Tech entrepreneur and former antivirus tycoon John McAfee has been charged with money laundering and fraud by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have overturned McAfee and his associate Jimmy Watson’s charges of securities fraud.
John McAfee is charged with fraud and money laundering tied to crypto systems by US law enforcement agencies
According to a press release released by the DoJ on March 5, John McAfee was charged with a number of charges related to his cryptocurrency operations and his so-called “McAfee team”. The federal prosecutor, the FBI and the DoJ also accused McAfee’s alleged partner, Jimmy Watson, who allegedly acted as an “executive adviser” to McAfee’s alleged cryptocurrency squad.
McAfee and Watson were charged with “committing commodity and securities fraud conspiracy, securities conspiracy and fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantial wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracies resulting from two programs related to the fraudulent promotion of cryptocurrencies to investors qualify as goods or securities according to federal law, ”said the DoJ announcement published on Friday.
Last Friday, Janice McAfee (John’s wife) asked a Tennessee attorney for legal advice. One who can work with her husband’s Spanish lawyers and who must have a strong understanding of cryptocurrency, she said. But that was seven days before John’s indictment on Friday, and she didn’t officially talk about the indictment on social media. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, John McAfee used his social media presence to participate in “age-old pump-and-dump programs”.
US prosecutors discuss McAfee ‘tweeting hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers’
Manhattan US attorney Audrey Strauss discussed how McAfee’s Twitter account contained a lot of evidence.
“As claimed, McAfee and Watson used a widespread social media platform and investor enthusiasm in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deceit,” said Strauss. “The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to post messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers promoting various cryptocurrencies through false and misleading statements in order to hide their true selfish motives,” she added.
John McAfee, the inventor of McAfee anti-virus software, has been charged with conspiracy in fraud and money laundering in the United States. Mr McAfee and his bodyguard are accused of promoting cryptocurrencies to his more than one million Twitter followers in order to raise prices.
– Paul Bakibinga (@PabloBach) March 5, 2021
Strauss and US prosecutors claim the alleged McAfee team allegedly raised over $ 13 million from investors. “Investors should beware of social media recommendations for investment opportunities,” warned Strauss during the announcement.
After the DoJ released the charges against Watson and McAfee, the news went viral on social media. “John McAfee didn’t do anything wrong,” tweeted one person on Friday night. Others jokingly discussed McAfee’s famous million dollar BTC bet that he had been making for a while.
“We were promised something that John Mcafee never delivered,” tweeted one person teasingly, sharing screenshots of McAfee’s humorous bet. The charges against McAfee and Watson arise from investigations that took place during the Crypto Bull Run in 2017 and were expanded by prosecutors in 2018.
What do you think of the US charges against Watson and McAfee? Let us know what you think on this matter in the comments section below.
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Audrey Strauss, Bitcoin, Fees, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency, Justice Department, Digital Assets, DOJ, FBI, Federal Attorney, Prosecution, Janice McAfee, Jimmy Watson, John McAfee, John McAfee Team, News, US Prosecutors, US Law Enforcement
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