US charges John McAfee with fraud, money laundering

John McAfee, founder of cybersecurity firm McAfee, and his executive advisor Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, has been charged by US prosecutors for fraud and money laundering through cryptocurrency.

According to court documents, prosecturs accuse McAfee, Watson, and other members of the McAfee Team of collecting over $13 million USD from two pump-and-dump schemes using cryptocurrency.

“McAfee, assisted by Watson, allegedly leveraged his fame to deceptively tout numerous digital asset securities to his followers without informing investors of his role as a paid promoter,” claims Kristina Littman, SEC Cyber Unit Chief, at the time.

“The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to publish messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers touting various cryptocurrencies through false and misleading statements to conceal their true, self-interested motives,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said.

Want to know more? US indicts John McAfee for cryptocurrency fraud, money laundering