Antivirus guru John McAfee dead in Spanish Jail

Former antivirus magnate John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell in Barcelona just hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges, according to authorities in Madrid.

According to Spanish media, quoting an official announcement from the Ministry of Justice, McAfee, 75, was uncovered in his cell at the Sant Esteve Sesrovires jail on Wednesday evening.

Guards and prison medical personnel intervened and attempted recovery, but to no avail, according to the ministry.

Investigators have been dispatched to the jail to investigate the cause of death, but “everything points to a suicide,” according to the ministry.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Spanish court ordered his extradition to the United States on charges of tax evasion between 2014 and 2018, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in jail.

McAfee is also fighting civil accusations in the United States for an estimated $13 million in profits from bitcoin schemes.

McAfee was detained in Spain in October 2020 as a “flight risk” pending his extradition hearing.

The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association.

I have nothing.

Yet, I regret nothing.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 16, 2021

On June 16, 2021, in a social media post that turned out to be one of his last, he reported that the millions in cryptocurrencies had been “dissolved” by his associates, who he said had abandoned him in dread.

“I don’t have anything. Nonetheless, I have no regrets “He put pen to paper.

McAfee, well known for his eponymous antivirus software, actually quit from that firm in 1994 and explored other projects, but his fortune took a major hit during the 2008 financial crisis. He stayed in Belize for a time but fled in 2013 after being wrongly accused of murdering a neighbor.

McAfee also ran for president of the United States twice, in 2016 and 2020. He was defeated in the Libertarian Party primary both times.