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NovaTech founders and promoters face $1.37 billion in penalties for crypto scheme

Source: Decrypt
NovaTech founders and promoters face $1.37 billion in penalties for crypto scheme

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a court order requiring the fugitive founders of NovaTech to pay approximately $1.37 billion for orchestrating a massive cryptocurrency scam. Alongside this major legal push against the platform leadership, authorities have successfully secured settlements with four top promoters of the fraudulent enterprise, who agreed to pay nearly $6 million in related penalties.

The enforcement action targets a deceptive operation that heavily relied on unconventional community infiltration tactics to build trust among prospective participants. According to investigators, the perpetrators specifically targeted religious communities and utilized prayer groups as a primary vector to lure vulnerable victims into depositing funds under the guise of guaranteed crypto returns.

This legal development carries significant weight for the broader digital asset market, highlighting the aggressive stance regulators are taking against fraudulent multi-level marketing structures disguised as high-yield crypto platforms. As bad actors increasingly exploit community networks and personal relationships to bypass traditional skepticism, regulatory bodies are stepping up efforts to dismantle these networks and recover lost investor capital.

Industry observers and legal experts have widely praised the aggressive enforcement measures, noting that targeting both platform architects and high-level promoters sends a strong deterrent message to those who profit from community-based financial scams. Analysts point out that dismantling the distribution network is just as crucial as penalizing the primary operators to effectively disrupt future illicit schemes.

As the court proceedings move forward, the focus remains on whether authorities can successfully trace and recover the substantial funds owed by the fugitive founders. Legal teams are expected to continue pursuing asset recovery avenues internationally to return as much capital as possible to the affected investors.

CoinMagnetic

CoinMagnetic Team

Crypto investors since 2017. We trade with our own money and test every exchange ourselves.

Updated: October 2026

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