John Mcafee Suicide: Antivirus Software Pioneer Found Dead In Jail Cell After Court Approves Extradition To US

The Antivirus software pioneer is wanted in the US for tax evasion. He is accused of deliberately failing to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018, even after earning millions.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 16, 2016 John McAfee, founder of the eponymous anti-virus company, speaks during the China Internet Security Conference in Beijing. Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee was found dead in his jail cell in Spain on June 23, 2021, a prison official said, shortly after a court-approved his extradition to the United States where he was wanted for tax evasion. (Fred DUFOUR / AFP)

Madrid: Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee was found dead in his jail cell in Spain on Wednesday, a prison official said, shortly

The 75-year-old was found dead in his cell in the Brians 2 penitentiary near Barcelona "apparently from suicide", a spokeswoman for the prison system in the northeastern Catalonia region said as reported by news agency AFP.

McAfee was arrested at Barcelona airport in October 2020 when he was about to board a flight to Istanbul. He has remained in jail since then. 

The Antivirus software pioneer is wanted in the US for tax evasion. He is accused of deliberately failing to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018, even after earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his life story.

If convicted in the US over the allegation, he could have faced up to 30 years in prison.

Earlier, Spain's National Court on Wednesday approved his extradition to the United States. The decision could have been appealed and then the extradition would have needed approval from the Spanish cabinet.

As per to the US extradition request filed in November and quoted in the ruling, McAfee earned more than 10 million euros ($12 million) in the four years in question but never filed a tax return.

"To conceal his income and assets from the Internal Revenue Service... the defendant ordered part of his income to be paid to straw men and placed property in their names," it said as reported by AFP.

The Spanish court ruling rook cognisance of the offences that took place between 2016 and 2018.

McAfee had made a fortune in the 1980s with the antivirus software that still goes by his name. He became a self-styled crypto-currency guru, claiming to make $2,000 a day.

In a tweet on June 16, he wrote that the US authorities believed he had "hidden crypto. I wish I did".

"My remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association. I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing," the once digital giant wrote to more than one million followers on Twitter.

In recent years, McAfee became a prominent booster of cryptocurrencies by getting on the Bitcoin bandwagon as chief executive officer of MGT Capital Investments Inc. In 2016, he also unsuccessfully ran as a presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party.