Lawsuit in New York: Promised Poor Immigrants 200% Profit from Crypto - and Fled

Yesterday (Thursday), the New York Attorney General's office filed charges against a married couple accused of a crypto scam targeting low-income immigrants.

MarketWatch reported that the couple, Cynthia and Eddie Petion, founded the crypto investment company NovaTechFX in 2019 and marketed it among Haitian communities in the U.S., promising a 200% return in just over a year. The defendants joined WhatsApp groups of Haitian immigrant churches, and Cynthia even presented herself as a "CEO-pastor," claiming she founded the company after receiving a "vision from God."

According to the lawsuit, within three years they managed to raise $1 billion from tens of thousands of investors, but it was actually a pyramid scheme. Only $26 million was invested, with the rest of the money funneled to the founders and early investors. By 2022, the scam began to unravel, and the company collapsed, leaving investors unable to withdraw their money. At that time, the couple sold their home in Florida and fled to Panama, according to the indictment.

The lawsuit also notes that although Cynthia presented herself as "God's Money" and frequently used biblical imagery, she privately referred to the investors as a herd of mindless individuals. "They don't think, they just agree to whatever we say," she is quoted. The lawsuit mentions that 11,000 New York residents fell victim to the scam, including a retired bus driver who lost $200,000.

This is not the only scam the two are accused of. According to James, in 2019 they founded a crypto company called AWS Mining, claiming that investors' money would be used for crypto mining operations in Paraguay, promising a 200% return within 15 months. But this too was a Ponzi scheme.

The scams have drawn the attention of authorities in other countries, including Russia, South Africa, Estonia, and Nigeria.