On Wednesday, a prison official reported that Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee was found dead in a prison cell in Spain. The incident followed shortly after a court approved his extradition to the united states where he was wanted regarding tax evasion.
As far as media reports are concerned, a spokesperson for the prison system in northeastern Catalonia claimed that John McAfee was found dead in his cell in the Brians 2 penitentiary near Barcelona. The person further suggested that the death might be ‘apparently from suicide’. John McAfee was 75 years old.
In October 2020, he was arrested from Barcelona Airport from where he was supposed to board a flight to Istanbul. Since then, he has been in Jail in Spain.
It is claimed that he have deliberately failed to file tax returns between the year 2014 and 2018 as he was earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his story life. On these grounds, he would face 30 years in prison if he would be convicted.
Earlier on Wednesday, Spain’s National Court disclosed that it has approved his extradition to the United States. As per reports, the decision could yet be appealed and the extradition would require further approval from the Spanish cabinet.
McAfee is reported to earn around 10 million euros (nearly $12 million) in the four years for which he never filed a tax return. The US extradition request filed in November and quoted in the ruling stated, “To conceal his income and assets from the Internal Revenue Services, the defendant ordered part of his income to be paid to straw men and placed property in their names.”
The Spanish Court decision concerned to the offences that occurred between the year 2016 and 2018. According to reports, John McAfee makes around $2000 a day. Furthermore, it claims that making a fortune in the 1980’s with the antivirus software that yet posses his name, McAfee had become a self-styled crypto-currency guru. He too has a more than one million followers on Twitter.
The US authorities believed that he had hidden crypto. On this regard, on June 16, he tweeted, “hidden crypto. I wish I did.” He further revealed that his remaining assets are all seized and his friends evaporated through fear of association. “I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing.” John McAfee expressed.
