Crypto Scammers Who Used Prayer Groups to Lure Victims Must Pay $1.3 Billion, Says New York
NY AG seeks $1.37 billion from crypto scammers targeting Haitian communities
Intelligence analysis by Qwen 2.5 (3B)
NY Attorney General Letitia James seeks $1.37 billion from crypto scammers targeting Haitian communities through prayer groups and WhatsApp, who defrauded investors of over $1 billion.
Some bad people tricked immigrants, especially Haitians, into giving them money for a fake crypto trading platform. They lost all the money, and now the government wants the bad people to give back what they stole.
Analysis
{"heading_1":"The NovaTech Scam","explaining_the_scam":"NovaTech, a crypto trading platform, falsely marketed itself as a registered hedge fund broker and advertised returns of 140% a year. In reality, it sent just under $26 million to its trading provider and lost about $18.2 million of it. Investors deposited over $1.16 billion into the platform's wallet, with Cynthia Petion, the only authorized user, diverting funds for personal use.","investor_victims":"More than 11,000 New York investors were among the hundreds of thousands of worldwide victims of the NovaTech scam. The platform collapsed in 2023, leaving tens of thousands of investors unable to withdraw their funds.","legal_action":"NY Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit in August 2025, seeking $1.37 billion in damages, disgorgement, and interest. Four top promoters agreed to pay nearly $6 million to benefit victims and are permanently banned from the securities, commodities, and crypto industries."}
Key points
- NY AG seeks $1.37 billion from crypto scammers targeting Haitian communities
- NovaTech falsely advertised returns of 140% a year
- More than 11,000 New York investors were victims of the scam
If the legal action against the scammers is successful, it could help prevent other people from falling for similar scams in the future.
However, the scammers may not be able to pay the full amount due to their flight from the country, making it difficult for the victims to recover their losses.
