Reading Time: 3 minutes
- Fresh York Licensed skilled Standard Letitia James has initiated merely action in opposition to two cryptocurrency companies and their promoters
- The lawsuit claims AWS Mining and NovaTechFX exploited Creole-speaking church contributors, defrauding them of over $1 billion
- James has alleged the schemes impacted over 11,000 merchants
Fresh York Licensed skilled Standard Letitia James has initiated merely action in opposition to two purported cryptocurrency companies and their significant promoters for allegedly orchestrating pyramid schemes that mainly focused Haitian immigrants within the US. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, claims that the two schemes—AWS Mining and NovaTechFX—exploited Creole-speaking church contributors by blueprint of WhatsApp neighborhood chats, swindling merchants out of over $1 billion. James alleges that the perpetrators “promised financial freedom nonetheless as an different stole their money and drained their existence financial savings,” with bigger than 11,000 merchants affected.
AWS Mining Promised 200% Return
The first alleged blueprint, AWS Mining, an Australian agency, operated from 2017 except its give blueprint in 2019, promising merchants a 200% return on their investment in cryptocurrency mining inner 13 to 15 months. Promoters of AWS Mining, in conjunction with Florida-originated couple Cynthia and Eddy Petion, now basically based fully fully in Panama, bought a 10% charge from the investments they attracted, along with extra bonuses and honorary titles.
The Petions emerged as top promoters for AWS Mining, each reportedly recruiting over 200,000 merchants to their network, incomes them the ceremonial title of “President,” in step with the lawsuit.
NovaTechFX Raked in $1 Billion
Following AWS Mining’s downfall in April 2019, the couple basically based a new endeavor, NovaTechFX, with Cynthia as CEO and Eddy as COO. NovaTechFX equipped itself as a cryptocurrency and international commerce trading platform, promising up to 4% weekly returns.
In their new endeavor, the Petions allegedly recruited veteran AWS Mining promoters, in conjunction with Martin Zizi, James Corbett, and Frantz Ciceron, who’re also named as defendants within the lawsuit. The same to AWS Mining, NovaTechFX compensated its promoters with a percentage of the investments they attracted.
Between August 2019 and April 2023, merchants poured over $1 billion into NovaTechFX, in step with the criticism. In June 2022, presently sooner than attracting the honour of negate securities regulators (who subsequently issued stop-and-desist orders for fraud and securities violations), the Petions discreetly sold their Florida residence and relocated to Panama, as acknowledged in James’ lawsuit.
Cynthia allegedly informed her promoters to switch away the US, telling Zizi, “Streak away the nation. They’ll’t help you if they can’t bag you lol.”
Promoters Preyed on Spiritual Sentiment
By December 2022, following the give blueprint of the crypto commerce FTX, a gargantuan number of NovaTechFX merchants sought to withdraw their funds. In February 2023, the corporate halted withdrawals, and by Also can, it had shut down, failing to return deposits to “tens of hundreds” of merchants, ensuing in “hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.”
The lawsuit asserts that the Petions and their mates basically focused Haitian immigrants in non secular communities. Cynthia Petion dubbed herself “the Reverend CEO” and claimed that God gave her the vision for NovaTechFX. Promoters likened her to Harriet Tubman, placing forward she guided hundreds to financial freedom.
Alternatively, privately, the founders disparaged their merchants as “a cult,” with Cynthia relating to herself as a “Zookeeper” and mocking the merchants’ loyalty and absence of indispensable pondering.
Petitions Declared Financial ruin in 2011
Court records expose that the Petions beforehand filed for chapter in 2011 attributable to consumer debt. The lawsuit’s affinity fraud allegations echo these in opposition to EminiFX founder Eddy Alexandre, who defrauded Haitian non secular communities in a identical blueprint and turn into as soon as sentenced to nine years in penal advanced for commodities fraud in 2023.
James has accused AWS Mining, NovaTechFX, the Petions, and the opposite named promoters of violating Fresh York’s Martin Act, power fraud, and repeated illegality. The lawsuit seeks damages and restitution for the victims, along with a permanent injunction barring the defendants from future investment schemes.
Earlier this 365 days, a category action lawsuit turn into as soon as also filed in opposition to NovaTechFX and Cynthia Petion. Within the intervening time, there aren’t any criminal charges in opposition to the Petions or the opposite promoters.