John McAfee’s bodyguard is pleading “Not Guilty” for the $13 million crypto fraud case.
The legal battle between the US authorities and John McAfee continues as his associate Jimmy Watson recently entered a plea. The former antivirus tycoon’s bodyguard had pleaded not guilty to the alleged cryptocurrency fraud case.
McAfee and Watson are accused of building a ‘Pump and Dump’ scheme.
According to the court documents, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. entered his plea before the Magistrate Judge Kevin Fox at the Southern District from New York.
Early this month, Watson has been arrested in Texas, as the authorities indicted him with a number of charges that include money laundering and securities fraud. Law enforcement said that both McAfee and Watson allegedly “raked in more than $13 million” from the crypto investors.
McAfee’s personal bodyguard apparently served as an “executive adviser” of the “McAfee Team,” which was the website built to offer some tips targeted to crypto traders, allegedly endorsed by the controversial tech entrepreneur.
The DoJ announcement that was published last March 5, 2021, has detailed the charges filed against both individuals:
“Conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy offenses stemming from two schemes relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities.”
Furthermore, as the US authorities say, both McAfee and Watson have allegedly used McAfee’s personal Twitter to endorse the digital assets to boost their prices even before selling them and profiting from the “pump and dump” maneuver.
The US government is now working on getting McAfee extradited from Spain.
As of now, McAfee is being held in jail in Spain, as the Spanish authorities have arrested him for other tax evasion charges.
Now the former antivirus tycoon is pending to face legal issues in North America, the US government works on extraditing him, for he allegedly failed to file tax returns.
Once convicted in the context of the mentioned charges, McAfee might spend more than five years in prison. Aside from that, the extravagant tech personality will also be facing legal troubles with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which has brought other charges against him.
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