Cybersecurity entrepreneur and crypto personality John McAfee wild ride could be coming to an end after he was arrested in Spain today, and now faces extradition to the U.S. over charges spanning tax evasion and fraud.
The SEC accuses McAfee of being paid more than $23.1 million worth of cryptocurrency assets for promoting several ICO token sales without disclosing that he was being paid to do so. Furthermore, the DOJ has levied several counts of tax evasion against McAfee, saying that he “willfully attempted to evade” payment of income taxes owed to the federal government.
In brief, announcing the arrest and unsealing of indictment documents, the DOJ also details that the charges are confined to McAfee, the individual and that they did not find any connection with the “anti-virus company bearing his name.”
The DOJ’s charges against McAfee are a bit dry, but detail ten counts against the entrepreneur. McAfee faced five counts of tax evasion, which each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, as well as five counts of “willful failure to file a tax return,” each carrying a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
The SEC filing is a much more exciting read, with 55 pages detailing a lengthy investigation into McAfee’s alleged fraudulent activity promoting several ICOs throughout 2017 and 2018. The report notes explicitly that McAfee allegedly received more than $11.6 million worth of BTC and ETH tokens for promoting seven ICOs. Unfortunately, those offerings were not named in the suit. He additionally received $11.5 million worth of the promoted tokens, the suit alleges.
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