$13 Million In Crypto Scams Sees John McAfee’s Bodyguard Plead Not Guilty

Being the persona that he is, it’s no surprise that John McAfee, the founder of the McAfee antivirus software firm, had a bodyguard. This bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, has recently pled Not Guilty to charges alleging how he was part of two wholesale crypto scams. These scams, which allegedly had the former Navy SEAL involved, managed to steal around $13 million in funding through duped investors.

Even The Bodyguards Aren’t Safe

Watson stands as the former Executive Advisor to the so-called “McAfee Team,” which was a website offering various tips in terms of crypto trading with the full endorsement of McAfee himself. Watson was arrested on the 4th of March, 2021, in the state of Texas, where he faces charges of defrauding investors by way of money laundering, crypto scams, conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, as well as wire fraud.

An indictment, made on the 5th of March by Audrey Strauss, the Manhattan US Attorney, went into detail about how the members of McAfee’s crypto team, Watson and McAfee included, had allegedly taken $13 million in funds from their victimized investors by way of their fraudulent schemes. Of course, this is all alleged, at least for now.

McAfee Stuck Abroad

As it stands now, the man, the myth, the legend, John McAfee is currently incarcerated within the prison system of Spain. He was arrested back in October of 2020 for tax evasion, and has been there ever since. The US government is currently in the process of seeking his extradition, as McAfee has an absolute laundry list of charges to face against the US government.

Some of the highlights of these charges is tax evasion committed during the years of 2014 to 2018, during a time where McAfee had earned alleged millions through consultation, cryptocurrency promotion, selling the rights of his life story for a documentary about him, as well as various speaking engagements.

The Charges In Question

As for Watson, in particular, he stands accused of taking part in an array of “pump and dump” schemes surrounding various altcoins during the years of 2017 and 2018, a chaotic time for the crypto space in general. In the indictment, it’s claimed that the McAfee Team purchased very large amounts of altcoins at low price points, and proceeded to publicly endorse these coins through McAfee’s Twitter account, which boasts hundreds of thousands of followers, with misleading information. After the McAfee Team managed to jack the price up by rallying the various retail investors to push into these altcoins, before promptly dumping their own holdings in secret.

In a recent Twitter post, McAfee bragged to the world that he had publicly endorsed DogeCoin back in 2017, and Dogecoin’s unrelated spectacular bull run is clear and definitive proof that he is, in fact, innocent. Time will tell how successful this particular brand of logic will work in court.