If convicted, McAfee will face a penalty of $250,000 or a maximum prison sentence of five years or both on each count of tax evasion. He will face a penalty of $100,000 or a maximum prison sentence of one year or both on each count of willful failure to file a tax return.
SEC alleged that McAfee failed to disclose that he a paid promoter of ICOs
Separately, the SEC alleged that McAfee violated federal securities laws by fraudulently promoting ICOs from at least November 2017 to February 2018.
He allegedly failed to disclose that he is receiving compensation for recommending seven ICOs to his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers during the relevant period.
“Promoting security without disclosing that you are being paid to do so is unlawful “touting” and violates the federal securities laws. The ICOs McAfee touted raised at least approximately $41 million and McAfee made approximately
$23.2 million in secret compensation for his touts. When directly asked if he was being paid for these promotions, McAfee lied to investors by falsely denying he was being paid by the issuers,” according to the SEC in the complaint.
