World: John McAfee, outlandish software security pioneer who tried to live as a sybaritic individual despite legal troubles was found dead in his Barcelona prison cells hours after the Spanish court agreed to his extradition to the US to face tax evasion charges.
McAfee, who was among other things a cryptocurrency promoter, tax opponent, U.S. presidential candidate and fugitive, had a history of legal woes spanning from Tennessee to Central America to the Caribbean.
McAfee’s body was discovered at the Brians 2 penitentiary in north-eastern Spain. Officials in the premises tried to resuscitate him, however, his soul escaped the prison. The Catalan justice department said,” medics had tried to resuscitate the 75-year-old but were not successful.” It added that “everything indicates” McAfee had taken his own life.
McAfee was arrested in October 2020, in Spain when he was about to board a plane to Turkey, and accused of failing to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, crypto-currencies and selling the rights to his life story.
The US Department alleged that McAfee evaded tax liability by stocking his monetary and crypto income under the names of his nominees. He was also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, also in other people’s names.
The antivirus pioneer was born in Gloucestershire, England and first came to prominence in the 1980s when he founded his tech company and released McAfee VirusScan.