$1.37 Billion: NY Just Ordered Crypto Scammers Who Hid in Churches to Pay Up
Scammers used prayer groups and church communities to recruit victims into a crypto fraud scheme — and New York's attorney general just asked a court to make them pay $1.37 billion for it.
The case targets NovaTech, a crypto MLM operation whose founders are now fugitives. According to New York AG Letitia James, the pair exploited trust inside religious communities, turning prayer circles into recruitment pipelines for what regulators say was a fraudulent investment platform. When the heat came, they fled the country.
How the Scheme Worked
NovaTech operated as a multi-level marketing platform, promising returns on forex and crypto trading. Promoters were incentivized to recruit aggressively, and the founders specifically targeted faith-based communities where trust runs high and skepticism runs low. It was predatory by design.
The $1.37 billion figure represents the full scope of what New York believes victims are owed. That number alone puts this among the largest crypto fraud recovery actions ever pursued at the state level.
Four top promoters who stayed in the country and didn't flee didn't escape either. The AG's office settled with them separately for nearly $6 million, a figure that signals authorities are working down the chain, not just going after the founders.
Why This Case Is Different
Most crypto fraud cases involve anonymous wallets, offshore servers, and victims who found the project on Twitter. NovaTech weaponized something harder to regulate: human trust. The victims weren't chasing a memecoin. They were listening to someone they prayed with every Sunday.
That makes recovery harder and the emotional damage deeper. It also means regulators are now paying close attention to how crypto products are marketed inside community networks, religious organizations, and cultural groups. Expect this to influence future enforcement language around affinity fraud.
What Crypto Holders Should Watch
This case is a direct warning shot to MLM-style crypto platforms still operating in gray zones. If your platform relies on recruitment incentives more than actual product value, New York is watching, and other state AGs are taking notes.
For retail holders, the message is simpler: if someone in your church, mosque, temple, or community group is pitching a crypto investment, that trust is exactly what scammers are counting on. Verify everything independently before a single dollar moves.
The founders are still at large. If they're ever extradited, the $1.37 billion judgment will be waiting.