John McAfee, the cybersecurity trailblazer-turned digital-currency bull, has been arrested in Spain on accusations of tax evasion, the U.S. Department of Justice said. He faces charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the department for recommending the use of electronic currency.
The commission filed a lawsuit against the software business owner - the brains behind the eponymous antivirus operating system - claiming he amassed more than $23 million in undisclosed payments from the promotion of seven virtual currency offerings on Twitter that were "fallacious and deceptive."
Prosecutors unsealed a criminal indictment document Monday against McAfee - who they say is criminally liable for tax evasion and willful negligence to file tax returns that could result in a prison term of more than five years.
McAfee is facing charges of failure to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and keeping secret assets that include a yacht, vehicles and real estate in other people's names, the department said. McAfee is in custody pending extradition, authorities said.
Based on the indictment, McAfee earned millions of dollars from the promotion of cryptocurrencies, speaking engagements, consultation work and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.
The commission wants to impose civil penalties on McAfee for selling allegedly illegally earned properties. The commission also wants to permanently prohibit him from serving as an officer of any listed entity that reports to the commission.
According to commission cybersecurity division director Kristina Littman, prospective investors in virtual asset securities are "entitled to know if promoters were compensated by the issuers of securities."
McAfee, assisted by a joint respondent Jimmy Gale Watson, allegedly took advantage of his popularity to mislead several electronic asset securities without notifying investors of his part as a paid promoter.
The software business owner was cleared as a person of interest in a murder in Belize. In 2019, McAfee was detained in the Dominican Republic when authorities found firearms in his possession as he entered the country.
The 74-year old also tried his luck as candidate, though briefly, for president in the U.S. election this year.
