Cybersecurity exec John McAfee indicted on federal charges of tax evasion

• Cybersecurity executive John McAfee faces federal charges of tax evasion, the Justice Department announced.
• The indictment, which was filed in June of this year, was unsealed Monday and alleges that McAfee evaded filing his tax returns from 2014 to 2018.
• “If convicted, McAfee faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on each count of tax evasion and a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count of willful failure to file a tax return,” according to the Justice Department statement.
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Cybersecurity executive and millionaire John McAfee was indicted on federal charges of tax evasion, the Justice Department announced in a statement Monday.

The indictment, originally filed on June 15, was unsealed Monday after McAfee was arrested in Spain, where he is pending extradition, according to the announcement.

McAfee, who founded a cybersecurity company bearing his name, faces 10 counts of tax evasion after allegedly failing to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018, according to the indictment. The document does not clarify if McAfee had received any income from his anti-virus company during the timeframe. 

From 2014 to 2018, McAfee earned his fortune from speaking engagements, consulting work, and promoting cryptocurrencies, as well as selling the rights to his life story for a 2016 documentary, according to the indictment.

The indictment said McAfee “willfully attempted to evade and defeat income tax due” to the IRS, and he “attempted to evade the IRS by concealing assets, including real property, a vehicle, and a yacht, in the names of others,” according to the Justice Department statement.

“If convicted, McAfee faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on each count of tax evasion and a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count of willful failure to file a tax return,” according to the Justice Department statement.

“McAfee also faces a period of supervised release, restitution, and monetary penalties,” the statement continued.

McAfee was also the subject of a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this year. The lawsuit claimed “that he made over $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation from recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings on Twitter that were materially false and misleading,” Reuters reported.