The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final consent judgment against Jimmy Gale Watson, Jr. on July 14. Watson was an associate of the late John McAfee and both of them were charged with alleged initial coin offering (ICO) promotion and scalping schemes by the SEC.
The SEC filed a complaint in October 2020 alleging that McAfee, with Watson’s assistance, promoted investments in ICOs to McAfee’s Twitter followers without disclosing that they were paid to do so.
SEC also believes that Watson assisted McAfee by negotiating the promotion deals with the ICO issuers and helping McAfee cash out the crypto payments.
They were also accused of engaging in pump and dump schemes.
The judgment against Watson permanently bans him from buying, selling, or offering digital assets in a professional capacity.
A fine of $316,401.48 plus prejudgment interest of $59,533.38, for a total penalty of over $375,000 has also been imposed on him.
Watson can however continue buying and selling from his personal accounts.
The SEC also filed a Notice of Death to John McAfee, dismissing the commission’s claim against the late tech mogul.
McAfee had been on the run for months after being charged with tax evasion and promoting ICOs that the U.S. authorities described as “pump-and-dump” schemes. The schemes allegedly made McAfee over $23 million.
McAfee was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide a few weeks ago.
