New York seeks $1.37bn from NovaTech founders

New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a court on Oct. 22 to order NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion to pay $1.367 billion, including interest, over the crypto investment scheme, according to the state’s monetary-relief filing. The request follows an August 2025 default judgment; the court must still determine the amount to be awarded.

How did New York calculate the $1.37 billion request?

The state seeks $1.135 billion in disgorgement and $232.5 million in prejudgment interest. Its filing says CoinPayments records show investors sent $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency to NovaTech wallets between August 2019 and May 2023. New York deducted $25.99 million sent to trading provider B2Broker when calculating the requested disgorgement.

The filing says traders lost $18.19 million of the amount sent to B2Broker. It also alleges that at least $134.5 million in cryptocurrency withdrawals went to wallets belonging to the Petions, with Cynthia Petion authorizing the transfers.

Has a court ordered the Petions to pay that amount?

No. The court found the Petions and related defendants liable by default in August 2025 after they failed to respond, and ordered monetary relief to be decided through an inquest on written submissions. The $1.367 billion is the amount New York is now asking the court to award, not money already recovered.

New York’s filing says the defendants have not provided the investor records and full accounting the court ordered. The Block reported that James’ office says the Petions have left the country. The state alleges NovaTech paid purported trading returns and recruitment bonuses from new investors’ deposits rather than trading profits.

Sources

• state’s monetary-relief filing — ag.ny.gov