Fun

SEC Fines John McAfee’s Associate $375K in Penalties for ICO Promotions

News Feed - 2022-07-17 05:07:37

SEC Fines John McAfee"s Associate $375K in Penalties for ICO Promotions


According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) judgment, Jimmy Gale Watson, a former associate of the now deceased John McAfee, has been fined for being paid to promote pump and dump-fashioned initial coin offerings (ICOs). The SEC has ruled that Watson must pay roughly $375K in penalties and he’s not allowed to participate in any commercial-based or professionally-offered security and digital currency schemes. McAfee’s Associate Jimmy Gale Watson Fined $375K and Banned From Professional Securities and Digital Asset Schemes While John McAfee’s remains are still in a morgue in Spain, one of his associates, Jimmy Gale Watson, has been fined by the SEC and banned from professional investment service and brokerage programs. Watson was ostensibly an “executive adviser” of the “McAfee Team,” and he was charged with money laundering and securities fraud after his arrest in Texas. U.S. law enforcement accused Watson and McAfee of endorsing ICOs after being paid and profiting from “pump and dump” strategies. McAfee’s associate Jimmy Gale Watson was a former Navy Seal and allegedly an “executive adviser” of the “McAfee Team.” The SEC ruling notes that Watson is not allowed to deal with securities and digital currencies in any professional manner, but Watson can still invest personally. Watson has also been fined by the SEC for $375K in penalties. The former “McAfee Team” associate entered a plea of not guilty in March 2021 and the case has continued with the SEC’s final judgment filed on July 13, 2022. The SEC has ruled that Watson must pay a fine of around $375K in penalties and the former McAfee associate is barred from dealing with securities and crypto assets in a professional manner. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss detailed when Watson was indicted that he allegedly leveraged McAfee’s Twitter account to promote the ICO projects. She noted that McAfee’s Twitter account held a “strong amount of evidence.” “The defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to publish messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers touting various cryptocurrencies through false and misleading statements to conceal their true, self-interested motives,” Strauss declared on March 5. Meanwhile, John McAfee reportedly committed suicide in Spain just over a year ago, but his widow Janice McAfee doesn’t accept the Spanish officials’ story. “I’m not buying it,” McAfee’s widow explained in July 2021. Janice McAfee and other members of John’s family have petitioned the Spanish High Court to get a third party to do another autopsy on John’s body and the legal matters behind the pending request made it so his corpse is still located in the morgue. While Watson may have to face other fraud charges going forward, a Notice of Death was issued regarding McAfee and the SEC’s claims for relief against McAfee’s alleged crimes have been waived. Tags in this story $375K, Alleged suicide, associate, Audrey Strauss, banned, bodyguard, conspiracy, DOJ, fines, fraud accusations, ICO, ICOs, initial coin offerings, Janice McAfee, Jimmy Gale Watson, John McAfee, Notice of Death, Pump and Dumps, SEC, SEC filing, SEC Fine, Securities, Spain, Twitter, US Attorney, Watson, Wire Fraud


What do you think about John McAfee’s associate Jimmy Gale Watson being fined $375K by the SEC? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below. Jamie Redman


Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today. Accused Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Granted Permission to "Engage in Legitimate Employment" NEWS | 5 hours ago Itau Unibanco Mulls Offering Crypto Services, Opens Tokenization Unit in Brazil NEWS | 14 hours ago


Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons Previous articleAccused Bitfinex Bitcoin Money Launderer Granted Permission to ‘Engage in Legitimate Employment’ Next articleBank of England’s Cunliffe Warns Crypto Is ‘Prone to Collapse’ — Touts ‘Same Risk, Same Regulatory Outcome’ Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Read disclaimerShow comments More Popular NewsIn Case You Missed ItCentral Bank of Brazil Confirms It Will Run a Pilot Test for Its CBDC This Year


The Central Bank of Brazil has confirmed that the institution will run a pilot test regarding the implementation of its proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real. Roberto Campos Neto, president of the bank, also stated that this ... read more.Draft Law Regulating Aspects of Crypto Taxation Submitted to Russian Parliament Argentinian Securities Regulator Launches Innovation Hub to Discuss Regulated Crypto Investments Survey: Adoption in Argentina Grows, With 12 out of 100 Adults Having Invested in Crypto Economist Predicts the Fed"s Response to Inflation Will Push Crypto Higher

News Feed

Paris Saint-Germain begins Web3 drive as a new blockchain validator for Chiliz Chain
Gareth Jenkinson14 hours agoParis Saint-Germain begins Web3 drive as a new blockchain validator for Chiliz ChainThe French football club aims to explore various avenues in the cryptocurrency sector, starting with becomi
Pocket DAO Passes Two Key Proposals on Node Incentives
Pocket DAO Passes Two Key Proposals on Node Incentives press release PRESS RELEASE.Pocket Network, a decentralized Web3 infrastructure provider that services blockchain data request
‘Members’ of OpenLibra Disavow Project Days After Its Devcon Unveiling
The creator of an “open” alternative to Facebook’s Libra stablecoin initially misrepresented which organizations are involved in the project, CoinDesk has learned.
Shiba Inu Burn Rate Explodes 7,240% With 1.1 Billion Tokens Burned In 24 Hours, What’s Driving It?
Este artículo también está disponible en español. The Shiba Inu burn ratehas experienced a dramatic surge, exploding by an astonishing 7,240% in just one day. This massiv
Email auto-reply vulnerability allows hackers to mine cryptocurrency
Ezra Reguerra7 hours agoEmail auto-reply vulnerability allows hackers to mine cryptocurrencyHackers exploit email auto-replies to spread crypto-mining malware, hijacking unsuspecting users’ systems to mine cryptocurren
Yashu Gola6 hours agoWhy is Litecoin’s price down today?Litecoin’s price is down today in part due to its overbought conditions and the upcoming release of the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes.2034 Total views2 To
This Week’s NFT Sales Slid 5% Lower Than Last Week, Ethereum NFT Sales Accounted for 76.8% of the Volume
This Week’s NFT Sales Slid 5% Lower Than Last Week, Ethereum NFT Sales Accounted for 76.8% of the Volume On Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, market data shows that non-fungible token (NFT)
Jesse Coghlan7 hours agoBinance and CEO Changpeng Zhao intend to seek dismissal of CFTC complaintBinance, Changpeng Zhao and former compliance chief Samuel Lim intend to file two motions to dismiss a March lawsuit from t
Tristan Greene7 hours agoElon throws AI-generated insults at GPT-4 after OpenAI CEO mocks GrokSam Altman posted a meme on X accusing Grok of being a GPT designed to make grandpa jokes, to which Musk clapped back in true
Tom Blackstone5 hours agoCosmos-based Osmosis launches concentrated liquidity, lets LPs choose priceThe new feature offers higher fees to LPs who provide liquidity within tighter price ranges but also causes them to not
Martin Young2 hours agoFirms have mere hours to deflect cyber attacks, warns cybersecurity CEOPalo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora has warned that “bad actors are getting faster” and stressed that companies need to be
Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone Predicts a Recession as Top Catalyst for Gold’s Rise Above $2,000
Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone Predicts a Recession as Top Catalyst for Gold"s Rise Above $2,000 This week, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Macro Strategist Mike McGlone shared hi