Antivirus software expert John McAfee has died at 75. He was found dead on Wednesday in a prison in Barcelona, Spain. McAfee was waiting to be released and sent back to the U.S, where he was arrested evading tax charges last year.
A few hours before his death, a court in Spain had given approval for the extradition of McAfee to the U.S. McAfee couldn’t live to hear this news as he was found dead in his prison cell at around 1 p.m. ET. A representative for the Superior Court of Catalonia told CNN that a medical examiner had arrived at the scene.
The cause of John McAfee’s sudden death is still being investigated. A statement issued by the Catalonia regional government Justice Department affirmed that a team of prison medical experts along with the guards tried to perform several life-saving measures on the controversial software magnate. But these efforts were all in vain as he had already passed away.
Although the reason for John McAfee’s death is yet to be confirmed, the statement said that “everything indicates” that McAfee died by committing suicide. The news of his death comes right after a judge at Spain’s National Court in Madrid said that the antivirus software magnate could be extradited to the U.S, in order to face a set of charges there.
More commonly known as the pioneer of antivirus software, 75-year-old McAfee was arrested in Spain in October after being impeached in the U.S for consistent tax evasion. According to official documents and court history, he had apparently not filed his taxes for four years between 2014 and 2018.
His inability to pay taxes was surprising, especially considering he earned millions in income; from promoting cryptocurrency to consulting tasks and speaking commitments, McAfee had it all. The exact amount owed by him was unspecified in the indictment. The Spanish Judges had authorized the extradition for him to face charges for 2016, 2017, and 2018.
According to the Associated Press, a virtual hearing in court this month saw John McAfee claimed that the charges against him were baseless and “politically motivated.” Additionally, he had been accused on the basis of fraud and money laundering charges in March.
The U.S Department of Justice said that McAfee was in cahoots with a U.S business partner, where they took part in a scheme that generated more than $13 million, only by promoting cryptocurrencies in the false light of things.
The last few years of John McAfee’s life were a series of unfortunate events. In 2012, he escaped his Belize home upon being questioned for the death of his neighbor. He then moved to Guatemala, and then shifted to Montreal Canada, where he worked on a documentary encompassing his life.
