• Aug 12, 2024

SEC charges crypto firm NovaTech with fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is suing a crypto startup, NovaTech, for allegedly fraudulently raising more than $650 million from over 200,000 investors, many in the Haitian-American community. The SEC frames NovaTech, founded in 2019 by husband-and-wife duo Cynthia and Eddy Petion, as a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme -- one that lured investors by claiming to invest in profitable crypto and foreign exchange markets. In truth, NovaTech reserved only a fraction of investor funds for trading, devoting the bulk to its payments to existing investors and commissions for promoters, according to the SEC.