Janice McAfee Continues Battle for Release of John McAfee’s Remains, 670 Days After His Death

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‘Anything is possible’ — John McAfee’s wife responds to faked death claims

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Business

"John McAfee's life was shrouded in controversy and it is only fitting that his death is shrouded in controversy as well," said Janice McAfee.

The wife of crypto evangelist and computer programmer John McAfee has responded to a claim made by her husband's ex-girlfriend that he faked his death and was currently in hiding.

John McAfee died in a Spanish prison cell in June 2021 while awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of failing to submit tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and not reporting income related to pushing crypto projects and consulting work. He was 75 years old when he passed, and many in and out of the crypto space quickly developed conspiracy theories around his detainment and death.

In a Netflix documentary on McAfee’s life and death released on Wednesday titled Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee, ex-girlfriend namedSamantha Herrera claimed to have received a phone call from the computer programmer two weeks after his reported passing:

“I got a call from Texas. ‘It’s me, John, I paid off people to pretend that I am dead but I am not dead. You’re only [the third] person in this world that knows that I’m still alive.’ And then he asked me to run away with him.”

Herrera did not provide further details in the documentary, but her claims cannot be independently corroborated at this time. Officials in Spain had been holding McAfee since October 2020, but he was still the subject of many allegations in the United States and abroad. McAfee himself had hinted that he might be targeted by U.S. authorities, posting a picture of a tattoo to his Twitter account in November 2019, claiming that “If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd."

Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: "We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself". I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whackd. Check my right arm.$WHACKD available only on https://t.co/HdSEYi9krq:) pic.twitter.com/rJ0Vi2Hpjj
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 30, 2019

In a statement to Cointelegraph, Janice McAfee said she was not taking the claims in the documentary seriously:

“We are talking about John McAfee so anything is possible but the likelihood of him being in Texas and that being shared to the world in a Netflix documentary is unlikely. Texas is a great place but John was being held in a Spanish prison because of trumped charges against him from the IRS and the SEC, so I doubt he would choose to hide out in America.”

“John McAfee's life was shrouded in controversy and it is only fitting that his death is shrouded in controversy as well,” added Janice McAfee.

McAfee, whose software company was responsible for a well-known antivirus program that bears his name, often made headlines in the crypto space and mainstream media. In July 2017, he said that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) would reach $500,000 by 2020, claiming he would "eat [his] dick on national television" if the prediction failed to pass. He ultimately did not honor this bet, and later said the crypto asset price would reach $1 million by 2021.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, filed a complaint against McAfee and his associate Jimmy Gale Watson, Jr. in October 2020 for allegedly promoting an initial coin offering scheme. The District Court for the Southern District of New York subsequently found Watson guilty, imposing a cumulative fine of roughly $375,000. The SEC later dismissed all claims against McAfee as a result of his death.

During his time in prison from October 2020 until his death in June 2021, McAfee regularly posted updates from his Twitter account, initially saying he was "content" with his situation and had friends in prison, describing the conditions of his incarceration and the loss of his crypto holdings. Janice McAfee continues to post related news articles and retweets to her husband’s 1.1 million followers.

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On October 5, 2020, the SEC alleged that McAfee and Watson promoted ICO investments on Twitter without disclosing that they were paid for them.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained the final judgment for an initial coin offering (ICO) promotion scheme against late entrepreneur John McAfee and accomplice Jimmy Gale Watson, Jr., filed on October 5, 2020.

In the original complaint, the SEC alleged that McAfee and Watson promoted ICO investments on Twitter without disclosing that they were paid for them. Watson allegedly assisted McAfee in negotiating promotional deals with ICO issuers and cashing out the crypto payments, among other pump-and-dump charges.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found Watson guilty of violating the law and imposed a cumulative fine of $375,934.86. In addition, Watson has been barred from participating in ICO-related issuance, purchase, offer or sale. The litigation states:

“However, that such injunction shall not prevent Watson from purchasing or selling securities for his own personal accounts.”

Providing closure to the impending case, the SEC's claims against McAfee were dismissed after the Commission filed a notice of death for the infamous entrepreneur.

The U.S. Treasury sought input from the public to include in reporting to the president on the possible implications of digital assets on finance and payment infrastructures. Sharing his views on the matter, Nellie Liang, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance stated:

“For consumers, digital assets may present potential benefits, such as faster payments, as well as potential risks, including risks related to frauds and scams.”

Therefore, Liang hopes to gain input from Americans and market participants to understand better the impacts of mainstreaming crypto assets.

John McAfee’s Body Is Still in a Spanish Morgue a Year After He Passed, His Widow Wants Answers

June 24, 2022 Bitcoin.com

The 5 weirdest crypto stories of 2021

December 20, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

For some blockchain enthusiasts and stakeholders alike, it‘s been a year packed with adventures.

In 2021, the market cap of cryptocurrencies skyrocketed 286% year over year, uplifting a $2.17 trillion industry into the stratosphere. But, with this vast creation of wealth comes the explosion of peculiar tales throughout the sector. From the suspicious death of multiple crypto-evangelists and crypto scams involving hacked Twitter accounts of heads of states to much-promoted celebrity NFT drops that bombed at the auction, 2021 was truly a wild year for the cryptocurrency cyberspace. Without further ado, let’s look at the top strangest stories that have captivated blockchain enthusiasts this year.

No 1. The death of John McAfee

On June 23, John McAfee, crypto-evangelist and namesake founder of antivirus software company McAfee, was found dead in a Spanish jail cell in an apparent suicide by hanging. The United States, one of the few countries that impose a taxation-by-citizenship regime — that is, Americans are taxed on their worldwide income each year regardless of their country of residence — had been seeking McAfee's extradition for failing to file his income tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and allegedly not reporting income for his crypto projects. McAfee was arrested in Spain pending U.S. tax evasion charges. Back in 2018, McAfee was allegedly charging as much as $105,000 per Tweet to promote initial coin offerings (ICOs) on social media.

In another Tweet two years prior, McAfee stated: “If I suicide myself, I didn't. I was whacked,” leading to conspiracy theories that the businessman’s death may have resulted from an orchestrated attack. McAfee is remembered for his pioneering ventures in programming, early adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) and his eccentric personality. He famously said that he would “eat [his own] dick on national television” if the price of BTC did not reach $500,000 by 2020. In November, McAfee's original software development company was acquired by private investors for $14 billion. McAfee is survived by his widow Janice McAfee and his children (of which McAfee claimed to have at least 47).

Today would have been John's 76th birthday. As we continue to wait for news from the courts I wanted to share some of my favourite memories of John. To honor John please share any photos you may have taken of or with him using #JohnMcAfeeDidNotKillHimself & #JusticeForJohnMcAfee. pic.twitter.com/5iEQCTi7zx
— Janice McAfee (@theemrsmcafee) September 18, 2021

No 2. India‘s prime minister appears to tweet out a BTC scam

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi‘s Twitter account was hacked again in December, with scammers claiming that India had adopted BTC as national tender, and 500 BTC are available for immediate distribution to Indian nationals who sign up via a phishing link. The tweet was briefly viewable to the public and Modi‘s 73.4 million followers before it was taken down. The year prior, a cybercrime group known as “John Wick” hacked the prime minister‘s Twitter account and posted messages asking his followers to make crypto donations.

Several hypotheses exist as to why Modi became a target of these Bitcoin scam hacks. One possible motive was revenge for the ongoing Bitcoin scandal in India‘s Karnataka state. According to Indian media outlets, Karnataka police and governmental officials allegedly received 12,900 BTC in bribes from hacker Srikrishna Ramesh, who was arrested for hacking three crypto exchanges and other websites in the previous years. When Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai asked about the issue in a meeting with Modi in November, the prime minister allegedly brushed off the issue. India currently faces a chaotic regulatory environment regarding the state of crypto affairs in the country.

Narendra Modi's deleted Bitcoin Tweet | Source: India Today / Twitter

No 3. ConstitutionDAO‘s “Uno Reverse”

Back in November, a group of retail investors formed a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, intending to pool money to purchase the last privately-owned first-edition print copy of the United States Constitution at a public auction hosted by Sotheby‘s. Constitution DAO raised $49 million via Ether (ETH) donations from 17,437 participants. On the day of the auction, however, the piece of the constitution was outbid by Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, whose firm owned hedge funds that shorted Gamestop shares to the discontent of many retail investors promoting the stock.

The ConstitutionDAO disbanded shortly afterward and issued refunds to its stakeholders. While it may be that the “proletariat” investors have nothing to lose but their chains, it‘s clear that the “bourgeois” won‘t allow them to be unshackled so easily.

hi frens,

we just sent out the final batch of refunds for those who contributed directly to juicebox after the auction. if you contributed post-auction and before our previously messaged cutoff date of 12/6, you should have received your refund by now.https://t.co/g7u2ENSoYE
— ConstitutionDAO (, ) (@ConstitutionDAO) December 11, 2021

No 4. Elon, Tesla and Bitcoin

Cryptocurrencies have been on a wild roller coaster ride this year, possibly in part to Tesla‘s CEO Elon Musk. Promoting digital meme currencies such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and aside, Musk‘s indecisive approach when it came to Tesla‘s Bitcoin adoption created and wiped out many fortunes.

In March, Musk sent investors into a buying frenzy after announcing that Tesla would accept BTC as payment for consumers to purchase its electric cars. Two months later, the momentum reversed and turned into a full-on market rout after Musk dropped the plans, citing environmental concerns with network mining. Then in October, Tesla said it would reconsider adding BTC as a method of payment. Through all this, however, Musk became more popular as a helmsman, leading retail investors and crypto enthusiasts alike through the storms of capital markets. He was recently elected Person of the Year by Times Magazine.

Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021

No 5. The unsold NFTs of Tupac Shakur

For 29 years, former hip-hop journalist Lawrence “Loupy D” Dotson held on to a series of photographs of famed-rapper Tupac Shakur. The photos were taken at the rapper‘s “2Pacalypse Now” debut album release party in 1992 and were announced for public auction in the form of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, in November of this year. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Loupy D stated: “I also considered photo exhibits, museums, all kinds of ways. With NFTs, it’s not just about the asset itself but the story behind the asset. I knew I needed to get my story out there in the public eye.”

The OpenSea auction had notable press coverage beforehand, including from RollingStone and Fortune.com. For a week, the auction continued. However, not a single piece was sold out of the 18 Tupac photo NFTs. In his disappointment, Loupy D took them off the platform and opened them up for private inquiries. But, to be fair, the photographer may have been asking too much, as each NFT piece had a minimum bid of 25 ETH ($100,000). Earlier this year, another artist asked 200 ETH ($1 million at the time) for a photo of Tupac Shakur taken 14 days before his death in a drive-by shooting. That NFT has not sold despite the price dropping down to 10 ETH. Simply asking too much or has Tupac‘s popularity faded? You be the judge.

Well, the #tupac #nfts didn't sell at auction on #opensea, but as they say, #tmc
Click link in bio for more information. https://t.co/QvPaMbDawQ pic.twitter.com/p8mc2MRSlc
— Loupy D (@loupyd) November 30, 2021