All About Indicts John 13mklasfeld

Indicts John 13mklasfeld: John McAfee, the founder of McAfee and Associates, has been indicted by a U.S. district court for allegedly defrauding and laundering cryptocurrency profits through fraudulent initial coin offerings (ICOs) that were never intended to be successful.

The indictment alleges that McAfee, who generated a large amount of his infamy from his time as the founder of the McAfee Security antivirus software, is responsible for raising $11 million through the ICOs.

Although $2 million of those proceeds were allegedly used in an attempt to bribe foreign officials, the majority of the funds were allegedly used to pay bribes and kickbacks in order to further fraudulent ICOs. The indictment claims that McAfee has been laundering money related to these schemes in order to avoid law enforcement detection.

From the indictment:

“McAfee was engaged in a scheme to fraudulently induce investors to invest millions of dollars in his purported digital currency exchange, through the offer and sale of securities related to unregistered securities, while avoiding detection by law enforcement authorities. McAfee disguised and attempted to hide the fact that he was in possession of vast sums of money from investors using one or more online identity or other means. McAfee orchestrated the distribution of at least $3 million in digital and fiat currency to pay his personal staff, funneling McAfee’s ill-gotten gains through a maze of bank accounts and shell companies, including accounts in the names of his employees or family members.

McAfee siphoned off millions of dollars by deceiving investors into believing that their funds were going to be used to start a legitimate cryptocurrency business when the investment funds were actually going to be used to pay McAfee’s personal expenses. In an effort to conceal his fraud, McAfee also used cryptocurrencies to pay for his personal travel expenses, including his extravagant lifestyle. For example, in a single month in 2017, McAfee spent approximately $2 million on a private jet and other luxury travel expenses. While McAfee’s ICOs did not succeed in the purported manner intended by him and were plagued with red flags from the beginning, McAfee continued to solicit investors for the business venture even after he knew that it was a fraud. McAfee continued to promise investors that the ICOs would generate a high rate of return, and that he had lined up significant businesses to participate in the ICOs.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York added:

“As alleged, McAfee sought to enrich himself by preying on investors’ greed. He did so by selling access to a crypto currency as an investment opportunity, when in fact he was running a scam on investors. This Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to prosecuting those who perpetuate fraud on investors.”

The indictment filed against McAfee is believed to be the first of its kind for cryptocurrency fraud. If found guilty, McAfee could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and US$250,000 fine.