John David McAfee, the tech entrepreneur who founded the McAfee Antivirus Software Company, has been indicted on charges of fraud and money laundering by the Department of Justice. He and his accomplice allegedly masterminded two schemes that used Twitter to exploit investors in the cryptocurrency market.
The first was a “pump and dump” scheme in which McAfee and his accomplice Jimmy Gale Watson, a member of his so-called cryptocurrency team, purchased large quantities of cryptocurrency at an inexpensive price and used their social media influence to encourage others to invest in that cryptocurrency, effectively artificially inflating its market price. McAfee and his team then sold, or “dumped,” the cryptocurrency to turn a large profit. The scheme earned McAfee more than $2 million in illicit profits, according to the DOJ.
In their second scheme, McAfee and Watson used their Twitter influence to promote fundraising events called initial coin offerings (ICO), in which startups issue cryptocurrency to investors, while concealing the fact that the startups were compensating McAfee for the promotional tweets with money earned from the ICO investors. This violates the Securities and Exchange Commission’s federal securities laws, which required McAfee to disclose that he was being paid by the ICO issuers to promote the events.
McAfee and Watson are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted of all charges, the pair could face more than 100 years in prison, in addition to financial penalties.
McAfee is currently detained in Spain on separate criminal charges filed by the DOJ’s Tax Division. The SEC and Commodities Futures Trading Commission have also filed separate criminal charges against McAfee. Watson was arrested in Texas on the night of March 4.
The recent indictment is only McAfee’s latest run-in with the law. In 2012 he briefly disappeared after fleeing authorities in Belize who sought to question him about the death of his neighbor. He is best known as the founder of the McAfee Antivirus Software Company though he is no longer affiliated with the security firm.
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