2 Long Islanders among those to forfeit profits from international cryptocurrency scheme targeting Haitian community, says AG Letitia James

Two Long Islanders are among those who must forfeit millions in profits reaped from an international cryptocurrency scam that targeted Haitian communities and defrauded hundreds of thousands of victims, including more than 11,000 New Yorkers, Attorney General Letitia James announced in a Thursday news release.

Frantz Ciceron, of Farmingdale, James Corbett, of Mastic Beach, Ricardo Roy, Sr., of Ridgewood, and Martin Zizi, a Queens native who resides in Kennesaw, Georgia, must pay a combined $6 million in separate settlements for their roles in what constituted "an illegal pyramid scheme,” James’ office said. The defendants, "acting as unregistered brokers,” made "false and misleading statements in the offer and sale of securities” for a pair of crypto firms, the release said. They are all barred from "participating in the securities, commodities, and cryptocurrency industries.”

The settlement stems from James’ June 2024 lawsuit against cryptocurrency trading company NovaTechFx and cryptocurrency mining company AWS Mining Pty Ltd. James on Thursday asked the New York State Supreme Court to order two other defendants, NovaTech founders Cynthia and Eddy Petion — who court documents identify as a husband and wife who last year fled the country — to pay $1.3 billion in damages and unjust enrichment.

The Petions were among the promoters of AWS Mining who "promised investors 15 to 20 percent monthly returns, 200 percent returns on investments within 15 months,” according to James’ office. The company failed to generate returns to fulfill those promises and collapsed in 2019.

The couple then started NovaTech, which hooked investors with similar promises of high profits through trades. The company misrepresented that it was a licensed crypto trading platform and "targeted minority and religious communities, particularly Haitian communities, in prayer groups and WhatsApp group chats with advertisements in Haitian Creole and religious messages that appealed to their faith,” the release said.

Less than $26 million of the more than $1 billion worth of crypto deposited with NovaTech was ever traded, according to James’ office. The platform collapsed in May 2023, and investors could not recoup their funds.

"NovaTech and AWS Mining scammed thousands of vulnerable New Yorkers by telling them they were making a safe investment when in reality, they were victims of a pyramid scheme,” James said in a statement. "These scammers targeted immigrant and religious communities with the promise of a better life but instead robbed them of their life savings.”

Ciceron was among the "early investors” in the Petions’ NovaTech "who, through no wrongdoing of their own, ended up as ‘net winners,’” his defense attorney, Carlo M. Fusco, told Newsday in an emailed statement.

"He voluntarily entered into a stipulation of settlement with the Attorney General’s office and agreed to return the profits he received from his NovaTech investment,” Fusco said. "The settlement includes no finding or admission of wrongdoing, and there has been no adjudication of any misconduct by Mr. Ciceron. It should be no surprise that the true perpetrators are the very same individuals who have fled the country and remain one step ahead of authorities.”

Corbett did not "solicit individuals in the Haitian Creole and religious communities” and "only had 21 direct recruits,” his defense attorney, William Grausso, told Newsday via email. His licensing ban, Grausso added, "can be appealed” in five years.

"Part of the reason that he is liable is that he didn’t complete enough due diligence,” Grausso said in a telephone interview. "He didn’t purposely mislead anyone, he didn’t purposely provide false information. ... He was taking information from the Petions in a way that led to culpability, which is why we settled.”

Stephen M. Juris, Roy’s defense attorney, declined to comment when reached by telephone Thursday evening.

Alejandro O. Soto, the defense attorney representing Zizi, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.