FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown’s Securities Division announced that the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, upheld the Final Order that permanently bans Stanley G. Richards, of Prince George’s County, from the Maryland securities industry and imposes a $5,920,000 fine for his involvement in an unlawful pyramid scheme called NovaTech.
“Marylanders and their families were swindled out of millions of dollars by this aggressively promoted and unlawful pyramid scheme,” said Attorney General Brown. “The Securities Division will always hold accountable con artists who target Marylanders’ hard-earned savings.”
NovaTech was a world-wide pyramid scheme that promoted itself as a crypto asset and Forex (foreign currency) trading platform. NovaTech claimed it would use investor funds to engage in crypto and Forex trading, which in turn would generate returns for clients who invested in NovaTech Packages.
In 2021, Richards began promoting an investment scam by offering and selling investment contracts to Maryland investors for and on behalf of NovaTech. Richards acted as an investment adviser in Maryland for NovaTech, although he had never been registered as an investment adviser in Maryland or anywhere else. He worked his way up through the NovaTech hierarchy and held the title of senior director, which NovaTech gave to anyone who offered and sold at least $25,000,000 of the NovaTech security.
Approximately 3,000 Maryland residents invested in NovaTech. At least 148 Maryland residents fell victim to the NovaTech scam as a result of Richards’ aggressive promotion of the NovaTech securities on YouTube, online video conference calls, and social media. According to NovaTech records, Maryland investors lost approximately $37,000,000. Worldwide, investors deposited between $600 million and $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency with NovaTech beginning as early as 2019 through 2023.
The Circuit Court’s decision came after oral argument where Richards requested a judicial review of the Maryland Securities Commissioner’s Final Order.
A copy of the Final Order can be found here. A copy of the Order to Show Cause can be found here. A Final Order was issued against NovaTech and its founders in July 2025 and can be found here.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked Assistant Attorney General Jerry E. Jones, who led the investigation and argued before the Circuit Court, Chief Investigator Joshua Schafer, Investigator Sara Timm, Assistant Securities Commissioner Katharine Weiskittel, Enforcement Unit Chief Max Brauer, and Securities Commissioner Melanie Lubin, for their work on this matter.
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