Enlarge / John McAfee on his yacht off the coast of Cuba in 2019. (credit score: Adalberto ROQUE / AFP / Getty)
Federal prosecutors have indicted famous cybersecurity eccentric John McAfee for securities and wire fraud for deceptive buyers on the peak of the final cryptocurrency increase. In late 2017 and early 2018, McAfee urged his a whole lot of hundreds of Twitter followers to put money into quite a lot of obscure cryptocurrencies. Prosecutors say he didn’t disclose his personal monetary stake in these tokens—and in some circumstances outright lied about it.
McAfee has been in custody in Spain since his arrest at a Barcelona airport final October. He was already going through extradition to the US on tax evasion fees; the self-described Libertarian hasn’t filed a tax return for a number of years. Now he’ll face further fees of securities and wire fraud alongside bodyguard Jimmy Watson, who allegedly helped McAfee perform a few of his pump-and-dump schemes.
The felony criticism covers a lot of the identical floor as a civil lawsuit filed by the Securities and Alternate fee on the time of his arrest final October.
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