The treasurer of John McAfee's company has stolen tens of millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency, according to a plea for information issued by that company.
.@gemcrypto and @paradigm2070, the top conspirators in the theft of over $62 mil in tokens from us, are trying to unload the stolen tokens. They are using https://t.co/Sed3yk0Nmg and HitBTC. Nearly every other Exchange is cooperating with us. Why these 2? Are they also involved? pic.twitter.com/w5wsKAIOJA
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) August 24, 2018
Implicated is one Luke Jenkins, ex-con and treasurer of the outfit, and his girlfriend Gemma (surname unknown), who has returned to her homeland and is not treating the allegations seriously.
It's just part of the never ending Mcafee show. I left America because our visions and morals with crypto are very different. I've seen too much and they don't want me in the space. I expected something like this. It's like a soap opera! (Tweeted from my prison cell??♀️)
— Gem (@GemCrypto) August 24, 2018
Team McAfee CEO Jimmy Watson published a plea for information in NullTX, mentioning only Jenkins. The amount stolen is between 50 and 100 million dollars, "depending on current market value".
A gentleman who claims he is a lawyer
Watson explains that Jenkins worked for the team for more than a year, and had responsibility over money going in and out of the Team McAfee accounts.
He refuses to return the money, and as a result "hundreds of individuals" have sent complaints to Team McAfee over the last two months. Said Watson: "These innocent people were stolen from and taken advantage if [sic] by the most corrupt institutions we have ever seen. HITBTC is one of the main ones..."
Watson explains that up to three members of the team have been working with HitBTC, along with "a gentleman who claims he is a lawyer who we now know is not," to launder the stolen money.
"Several exchanges" have provided information about Jenkins' activites, and the McAfee team has asked him to give back the money "on numerous occasions", but received only responses "nefariously submitted with accusations inlaced in extortion." Now Jenkins' parole officer is involved:
I hired @Paradigm2070, after he was released from prison. He was still on parole. No one would hire him. I gave him what few would - a chance. I also arranged for his girlfriend, @gemcrypto, to come to the States for him. Big mistake. People are sometimes not what they seem.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) August 24, 2018
McAfee vs HitBTC
McAfee has some history with HitBTC. He threatened the mysterious exchange with a lawsuit in July because it restricted transactions of a token called the Medical Token Currency, which is aligned with a healthcare platform being developed by a company called Docademic, in which McAfee is an investor.
HITBTC has not responded to our requests. We are preparing a legal complaint against HITBTCs service provider and against HITBTC. If you have an issue with HITBTC, then please send details to:
Officialmrmcafee@gmail.com — John McAfee (@officialmcafee) July 10, 2018
Finance Magnates recently reported on HitBTC's reticence to part with its customers' money.
John McAfee originally made his name through his antivirus programme, but has not been involved in that company since 1994. Since then he has been heavily involved in the cryptocurrency world; endorsing, defending, even risking his life.
The Crow's Nest: highest point in the building and one of our 14 beds. Guards position themselves here at night, armed to the teeth and waiting. pic.twitter.com/3cGi1roGOw
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) August 25, 2018
The McAfee Crypto Team
Team McAfee ("currency independence - liberate your money, free your mind") offers a number of services. On its website you can purchase a wallet called Bitfi, which McAfee claims is unhackable (it was hacked repeatedly as soon as the claim was made), explore a mobile phone called Cloakphone (due for release in 2019), and an ICO advisory service ("Take your next project into the stratosphere").
I haven’t really been following this Bitfi nonsense, but I do so love when companies threaten security researchers. pic.twitter.com/McyBGqM3bt
— Matthew Green (@matthew_d_green) August 6, 2018
In July, Team McAfee launched mcafeemarketcap.com, a cryptocurrency price-tracking website. It is offline as of press time.
Most recently, we reported that McAfee had taken on the role of CEO at a Blockchain security company called Luxcore, which aims to release a secure wallet, and secure network for institutions, amongst other things, later this year.
