McAfee Antivirus Boss Caught In Cryptocurrency Fraud Case

John McAfee faces prison sentence (Twitter @officialmcafee)

JAKARTA - John McAfee, who is the founder of antivirus company McAfee, was sentenced to prison for selling cryptocurrency altcoin. McAfee was sentenced to prison terms of up to 100 years.

Previously, McAfee was convicted of not paying taxes. The latest news reveals that John McAfee will be extradited from Spain to the United States (US).

The 75-year-old man was accused of fraud, he was also suspected of embezzling USD 13 million (approximately IDR 186.8 billion). McAfee was not alone, he was accompanied by Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. considered being using the pump and dump method regarding the digital altcoin currency. For information, altcoins are all digital currencies other than bitcoin.

Attorney in the US Manhattan area, Audrey Strauss sued McAfee antivirus boss with the above charges. Strauss accused McAfee and his colleagues of buying up altcoins massively when the price of digital money was still low. McAfee and Jimmy directed their Twitter followers to buy the crypto money.

At that time, McAfee did not inform him that he had a lot of altcoins. After successfully recommending his followers to buy altcoins, the value of digital money has increased. It was at this time that McAfee and Jimmy sold altcoins and took profits.

This activity can be referred to as scalping and money laundry or money laundering. A scheme for buying stocks when the price is low and selling them for a short period of time when the price rises.

Based on court documents, the two of them have made a profit of up to USD 2 million (about IDR 28.7 billion) in this way. On the other hand, the boss of antivirus company McAfee was also charged with imprisonment for money laundering for failing to provide a payment report he received after offering the initial cryptocurrency promotion (ICO) on Twitter.

He is now reported to have received as much as USD 11 million (approximately IDR 158.1 billion) as a result of his promotion on Twitter. The US Securities and Exchange Commission requires them to report the compensation obtained from promoting the initial coin offering to the public using the name of the coin issuer.

Because of that action, both of them were charged with laws regarding conspiracy and fraud. They also face the threat of being thrown in prison for up to 100 years if convicted, as reported by CNN International, Tuesday, March 9, 2021.

Until now, McAfee is still being held in a Spanish cell and is still awaiting extradition to Uncle Sam's country. Meanwhile, Jimmy Gale Watson has been arrested by police in Texas.