John Mcafee accuses Friday of introducing a “pump-and-dump” scheme.
New York, United States:
The creator of computer security software McAfee faced charges on Friday that he filed a “pump-and-dump” scheme, by encouraging cryptocurrencies on Twitter to increase their value.
John McAfee, founder of the named antivirus company, and Jimmy Watson are facing allegations of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering in connection with schemes to deceive cryptocurrency investors, according to a lawsuit not fired by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“McAfee and Watson took advantage of a widely used social media platform and the enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and fraud,” said one US lawyer Audrey Strauss in a press release.
McAfee, Watson, and other members of their “cryptocurrency team” reportedly reported “more than $ 13 million from investors who have been victims of their fraudulent schemes,” according to Strauss.
Pumping and dumping schemes usually involve overstating stock or, in this case cryptocurrency, by holders until they are sold at fake high prices.
“McAfee and Watson used social media to accomplish an age-old pump-and-dump scheme,” FBI assistant director William Sweeney said.
“When you engage in illegal activity, a different product will not just find new ways to accomplish old tricks.”
McAfee and Watson also used Twitter to promote digital tokens on behalf of original offerings of dogs without stating that they were being paid for their efforts by the startups, according to the sentence.
McAfee, 75, is in custody in Spain awaiting a decision on its extension to the United States where it seeks tax evasion.
He has been held in a prison near Barcelona since his arrest in the Spanish city in October just as he was about to embark on a flight to Istanbul.
They were arrested after being convicted in June in the United States of tax evasion and tax filing failure between 2014 and 2018, despite earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and sell the rights to his life story.
Since making his fortune with his eponymous antivirus software in the 1980s, McAfee has become a self-styled cryptocurrency guru.
He has a million followers on Twitter, where he describes himself as a “woman lover, adventure and mystery.”
McAfee made headlines after he moved to Belize and his neighbor in the Central American country was secretly murdered in 2012, a crime that remains unsolved.