Anti-virus mogul John McAfee charged with fraud over crypto promotion

McAfee indicted in federal court over schemes that promoted cryptocurrency offerings on social media

John McAfee, the antivirus software pioneer whose former company still bears his name, has been indicted on fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges stemming from two cryptocurrency schemes, the US Department of Justice said on Friday.

Authorities accused McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, of exploiting McAfee's large Twitter following to artificially inflate prices of altcoins" through a pump-and-dump scheme, and concealing payments McAfee received from startup businesses to promote initial coin offerings.