Together with other members of his team, McAfee allegedly sold his investment position in that significant short-term price increase that his tweets generated, but the long-term value of the altcoin usually declined significantly in the year following his tweets, according to the complaint.
McAfee tweeted those altcoin endorsements on his verified account without disclosing that he owned large quantities of them, even though he falsely promised transparency, prosecutors claim. McAfee now has more than a million followers on his verified Twitter account, where he promoted his altcoins in messages embedded in his criminal complaint. Investors should be wary of social media endorsements of investment opportunities.” McAfee, Watson, and other members of McAfee’s cryptocurrency team allegedly raked in more than $13 million from investors they victimized with their fraudulent schemes. “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. Attorney Audrey Strauss wrote in a statement. “As alleged, McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception,” Manhattan U.S. Prosecutors claim that McAfee and Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., an executive adviser of his cryptocurrency team, engaged in a “pump-and-dump” scheme known as “scalping,” where they bought large quantities of publicly traded cryptocurrency altcoins at cheap rates to be peddled on social media. The 75-year-old computer programmer now also stands accused of a $13 million fraud and money laundering scheme.
Mcafee antivirus scams software#
They also accused him of telling followers he had no stake in the coins, even as he touted how they "will change the world.US millionaire John McAfee gestures during an interview with AFP on his yacht anchored at the Marina Hemingway in Havana, on June 26, 2019.Īntivirus software mogul John McAfee, who has been awaiting extradition from Spain on tax evasion charges since late last year, just had his legal woes compounded by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday morning. In the cryptocurrency cases, authorities said McAfee touted assets including Verge, Reddcoin and Dogecoin as part of a "Coin of the Day" or "Coin of the Week" tweet from around December 2017 through February 2018.Īuthorities said McAfee held himself up as an expert on cybersecurity and cryptocurrency through his tweets, speeches and his role as a CEO of a publicly traded cryptocurrency company. Securities and Exchange Commission, which in October accused McAfee of concealing more than $23.1 million he made from boosting seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter. He fought for other people's rights and liberties, and he is entitled to and looks forward to his day in court to exercise some of those very rights."īoth also face civil charges by the U.S. Watson's attorney Arnold Spencer said in a statement: "Jimmy Watson is a decorated veteran and former Navy Seal.
Watson was arrested on Thursday night in Texas, the department added. McAfee is being detained in Spain following his arrest there on tax evasion charges announced in October, the Justice Department said. Lawyers for McAfee could not immediately be identified. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement: "As alleged, McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception." The Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed related civil charges concerning the alleged pump-and-dump scheme. The charges were brought in Manhattan federal court. The Justice Department said McAfee and his accomplices reaped more than $13 million from the schemes. Justice Department said on Friday.Īuthorities accused McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr., of exploiting McAfee's large Twitter following to artificially inflate prices of "altcoins" through a so-called pump-and-dump scheme, and concealing payments McAfee received from startup businesses to promote initial coin offerings.
NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - John McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer whose former company still bears his name, has been indicted on fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges stemming from two cryptocurrency schemes, the U.S.
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