Eccentric antivirus software mogul John McAfee executed an illegal “pumping and dumping” cryptocurrency scheme that earned millions of dollars for him and his employees, Manhattan federal prosecutors said Friday.
In an unsealed indictment in federal court, prosecutors charged McAfee and Jimmy Watson, their cryptocurrency “executive advisor,” who had executed two plans to withdraw cryptocurrency investors for about $ 13 million.
In the first illicit conspiracy, McAfee and his team bought large amounts of “altcoin”, even though they knew they planned to spread the cryptocurrency through their Twitter account, which has a huge and loyal following, they accused the prosecutors.
McAfee, the founder of McAfee’s antivirus software, sold the altcoins after his tweets artificially increased the value of the cryptocurrencies, earning about $ 2 million with the “pump and dump” scheme, according to the indictment.
In a second ploy, McAfee and his team took money from cryptocurrency issuers to promote events called “initial coin offerings,” prosecutors accused.
According to the indictment, the unlawful group did not reveal that they were paid to disclose the facts, which is illegal. That plan allegedly earned them another $ 11 million.
McAfee and Watson have been charged with seven counts of conspiracy and money laundering.
McAfee is currently being held in Spain, where he was arrested by US authorities last year for tax evasion.
In August, he ran infamously to lie about his viral claim that he was arrested in Norway for wearing a thong as a face mask, saying it was just a joke.