John McAfee Found Dead In Spanish Prison

(RTTNews) - John David McAfee, who founded the antivirus software company McAfee Associates, has been found dead in a prison cell in Spain shortly after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the US to face tax evasion charges, multiple reports said.

He was arrested in Spain in October 2020 after being accused of failing to file tax returns for four years. On Wednesday morning, Spain's National Court authorized his extradition to the US to face the charges.

The 75-year-old founder of McAfee Corp. apparently hanged himself.

John McAfee founded McAfee Corp., which released the first commercial anti-virus software, in 1987 and led the company until his resignation in 1994. The company was later acquired by technology giant Intel in 2011.

The tax evasion charges against the tech entrepreneur were announced after the U.S. SEC revealed that it had brought civil charges against McAfee and that he could face 30 years in prison if convicted.

As per the charge, McAfee allegedly evaded tax liability by having his income paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of nominees.

McAfee earned millions in income from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. However, from 2014 to 2018, he allegedly failed to file tax returns, despite receiving considerable income from these sources.

The SEC also charged McAfee last year for promoting investments in initial coin offerings or ICOs to his Twitter followers without disclosing that he was paid to do so.

McAfee had fled the U.S. in January 2019 as he was facing tax fraud charges. The tycoon, who openly defies US tax system, earlier admitted that he did not pay taxes for eight years.

Meanwhile, McAfee had argued recently that the charges against him were politically motivated, and that he will have to spend the rest of his life in prison if returned to the US.

In 2019, McAfee was briefly detained in the Dominican Republic for allegedly bringing weapons into the country.