New York, United States:
The creator of McAfee pc safety computer software was facing charges Friday that he cashed in on a “pump-and-dump” scheme, by advertising cryptocurrencies on Twitter to drive up their worth.
John McAfee, founder of the antivirus firm that bears his name, and Jimmy Watson face charges of conspiracy, fraud, and dollars laundering in connection with schemes to trick cryptocurrency investors, according to an indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice.
“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,” US lawyer Audrey Strauss stated in a release.
McAfee, Watson, and other members of their “cryptocurrency team” allegedly “raked in more than $13 million from investors they victimized with their fraudulent schemes,” according to Strauss.
Pump-and-dump schemes generally involve more than-hyping the worth of stocks or, in this case cryptocurrency, by holders so that they can be sold at artificially higher rates.
“McAfee and Watson used social media to perpetrate an age-old pump-and-dump scheme,” FBI assistant director William Sweeney stated.
“When engaging in illegal activity, simply finding new ways to carry out old tricks won’t produce different results.”
McAfee and Watson also employed Twitter to market digital tokens on behalf of initial coin offerings devoid of disclosing they had been getting paid for their efforts by the startups, according to the indictment.
McAfee, 75, is in custody in Spain pending a selection on his extradition to the United States exactly where he is wanted for tax evasion.
He has been held at a prison close to Barcelona considering that he was arrested in the Spanish city in October just as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul.
The arrest followed his indictment in June in the United States for tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns amongst 2014 and 2018, regardless of earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and promoting the rights to his life story.
Since generating a fortune with his eponymous antivirus computer software in the 1980s, McAfee has develop into a self-styled cryptocurrency guru.
He has one million followers on Twitter, exactly where he describes himself as a “lover of women, adventure and mystery.”
McAfee created headlines right after he moved to Belize and his neighbor in the Central American nation was mysteriously murdered in 2012, a crime that remains unsolved.