Staten Island woman sues City of New York and AWS over crypto fraud


Judge Pamela K. Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York | Administrative Office of the United States Courts | Wikipedia Commons

A resident of Staten Island has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and other defendants, alleging negligence and civil rights violations connected to a cryptocurrency fraud scheme.

The lawsuit centers on an alleged cryptocurrency fraud operation that used fraudulent domains hosted on AWS. Plaintiff Svetlana Klishina claims she transferred approximately $16,441 worth of cryptocurrency to these platforms between November 2024 and February 2025. Despite reporting the fraud to multiple agencies, including CYBERA, the U.S. Secret Service, and the NYPD, Klishina asserts that Detective Ryan Cackowski failed to investigate while Lieutenant Francis DePalma closed her case without action. She alleges this inaction deprived her of due process and contributed to additional financial losses.

According to the complaint, AWS continued hosting the fraudulent domains despite receiving multiple abuse reports. Klishina argues that AWS’s failure to act prolonged her financial harm and reflected broader negligence toward cryptocurrency fraud schemes hosted on its servers.

The claims include alleged due process violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by the NYPD officers, Monell liability against the City of New York, and negligence by AWS. Klishina also brings claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968, alleging an enterprise involving both corporate entities and municipal actors.

Klishina seeks compensatory damages of $1 million each from the City/NYPD and AWS, as well as punitive damages. She also requests treble damages under RICO provisions ranging from $49,323 to $90,000, attorney’s fees and costs, declaratory relief declaring the NYPD’s conduct unlawful, and injunctive relief to preserve records related to Intellisoft domains hosted by AWS.

The plaintiff is representing herself in this manner. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case No. 25-cv-5035-PKC-JAM and is presided over by Judge Pamela K. Chen.

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