The Justice Department recently announced that the 2016 U.S. presidential candidate has been indicted for tax evasion. After John McAfee was arrested in Spain, the tax department unsealed the indictment, claiming that he had earned millions of dollars despite having “earned millions of dollars by promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling others the rights to make a documentary about his life story. ” but failed to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018.
In addition to the indictment, McPhee faces charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for promoting the cryptocurrency. In a press release, the SEC explained that the charges were for McAfee’s promotional Initial Coin Offering (ICO) via Twitter, without acknowledging that he was paid up to $23 million for it.
It detailed the alleged scheme because McAfee publicly promoted the token offering for years, while at the same time claiming he was not paid until 2018 after acknowledging that he had been compensated for it. His bodyguard, Jimmy Watson Jr. also faces charges of helping to transfer and convert the cryptocurrency McAfee received as payment.
The Tax Division’s indictment specifically mentions that it does not claim that McAfee received any income from the anti-virus company that bears his name, the same as he splendidly distanced himself years ago. If convicted, McAfee faces up to five years in prison on five counts of tax evasion, as well as a one-year fine and a $100,000 fine for failure to file.
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