SEC Charges NovaTech Founders in Alleged $650 Million Crypto Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against the founders of NovaTech for running a Ponzi scheme that netted $650 million in cryptocurrency, the agency said on Monday.

The SEC is accusing Cynthia and Eddy Petion of allegedly orchestrating the scam as a “crypto asset investment program” and multi-level marketing (MLM) company that, according to the agency, primarily targeted the Haitian-American community between 2019 and 2023.

“NovaTech and the Petions caused untold losses to tens of thousands of victims around the world,” Eric Werner, director of the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office,  said in a statement. “As we allege, MLM schemes of this size require promoters to fuel them, and today’s action demonstrates that we will hold accountable not just the principal architects of these massive schemes but also promoters who spread their fraud by unlawfully soliciting victims.”

In June, New York Attorney General Letitia James separately sued NovaTech and AWS Mining for operating an illegal pyramid scheme. The New York AG said the scammers drew $1 billion from investors, including 11,000 from New York.

“These cryptocurrency companies targeted immigrant and religious communities with promises of financial freedom but instead stole their money and drained their life savings,” James said at the time.

According to the SEC complaint, NovaTech promised investors profits and the safety of their funds, claiming they would be invested in crypto and foreign exchange markets. Instead, they used most of the funds to pay existing investors and promoters while siphoning millions for themselves.

“When NovaTech ultimately collapsed, most investors were not able to withdraw their investments, resulting in substantial losses,” the SEC said.

While NovaTech was able to steal hundreds of millions in crypto, the SEC’s new complaint did not specify what type of cryptocurrency was stolen in the scam.

The SEC also filed charges against NovaTech promoters Martin Zizi, Dapilinu Dunbar, James Corbett, Corrie Sampson, John Garofano, and Marsha Hadley, who the agency accuses of recruiting investors and promotors for the scheme.

“NovaTech paid them substantial commissions for the investors they and their networks recruited,” the SEC said. “When Zizi, Dunbar, Corbett, and Sampson became aware of certain red flags about NovaTech, including regulatory actions taken against it by U.S. and Canadian regulators, they continued recruiting investors and downplayed the red flags.”

The SEC said Zizi has already agreed to partially settle its charges by consenting to a $100,000 civil penalty, pending court approval, and is prohibited from participating in future similar activities. Zizi, however, did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations, the agency said, noting that other penalties will be determined at a later date.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.