John David McAfee, founder of McAfee Associates has been charged with evading taxes and a failure to file tax returns.
He refused to make a report of the income made from his promotion of cryptocurrencies, his consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. McAfee failed to pay tax returns runs from 2014-2018 even with the “considerable income” he received, the U.S. Justice Department said.
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A June indictment was unsealed in federal court on Monday after McAfee’s arrest in Spain, pending his extradition from the United States.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly said that “McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation” when he recommended several initial coin offerings to his Twitter.
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The cybersecurity mogul camouflaged cryptocurrencies he was paid to promote by companies issuing the offerings for recommendations of which he made over $23.1 million.
SEC is seeking to inflict civil charges against McAfee and a repayment of ill-gotten gains, with interest. They also forbid him from serving as an officer of any company that files reports to the agency.
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Jimmy Gale Watson would also be charged for aiding the sale of the digital currencies and other claims.