The US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York indicted McAfee and executive assistant Jimmy Watson on multiple charges that encompass two alleged cryptocurrency schemes. (McAfee was previously indicted in October for separate tax evasion charges.) According to court documents, McAfee and his associates raked in a combined $13m between the two efforts, both of which relied on using McAfee’s popular Twitter account to push niche cryptocurrencies or promote initial coin offerings without disclosing that he stood to profit, either through investment gains or promotional fees.
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John McAfee is indicted for altcoin pump-and-dumps and ICO schemes
“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,” said Manhattan US attorney Audrey Strauss in a press release. “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.”
