John McAfee: 5 eccentricities of the businessman who appeared dead in a cell

John McAfee was not only known under the condition of pioneer of computer security and for the creation of a famous antivirus which bears his last name. The businessman born in 1945 in the British county of Gloucestershire has had a life full of eccentricities, court cases, accusations of scams, business successes and political failures.

The end of this journey, at age 75, was known this week when was found dead in a Barcelona prison, after the Spanish justice authorized his extradition to the United States where he was accused of tax evasion. The authorities initially considered it a suicide.

The tycoon, who in his youth worked for a division of NASA, had been arrested 21 times in eleven different countries. He had no regrets for his wild and wild life; on the contrary, he bragged about this record and it was even he who admitted that he had not paid taxes for more than eight years because he considered them unfair. This elusive behavior led to his recent exiles, his latest fugitive adventures and his arrival at Barcelona prison where he was found dead.

McAfee: 5 eccentricities of the cybersecurity mogul

1. Yachts and weapons

In mid-2019, McAfee was arrested at a port in the Dominican Republic. He was on a yacht with various weapons, magazines and cartridges, plus $ 83,000 in cash that he did not declare to customs. The arrest took place when “The Great Mystery”, his boat, stopped on the shores of a water park in the north of that country.

The passage through the Dominican prison was brief. On occasion, local authorities deported McAfee to the UK, his home country, after confirming to US authorities that he did not have an arrest warrant (note that the extradition request intervened later).

He was arrested in 2019 while on a yacht with guns, magazines and cartridges, in addition to $ 83,000 in cash.

At a press conference, authorities in the Dominican Republic explained that the businessman was released without charge and traveled to the UK with his wife, who was also arrested with the other five crew members of the boat.

2. His presidential aspirations

Prior to being detained in the aforementioned Central American country, McAfee said on Twitter that he fled the United States after the CIA tried to arrest him for tax crimes. “Now we are at sea and will give more information soon. I’ll carry on in the dark for the next few days», He declared in a very singular tweet which he illustrated with a photo in which he appeared with a woman on board a yacht, holding an assault weapon.

Its relationship with the United States was ambiguous. The creator of the famous antivirus once threatened this country with divulging 31 terabytes of confidential information from the government of Donald Trump which, according to him, would reveal corrupt practices. “I will name names and details. I’ll start with a CIA agent and two officials in the Bahamas. If they stop me or make me disappear, more than 31 terabytes of compromising data will be released to the press, ”he assured. He was eventually captured in Barcelona, ​​while trying to get to Turkey.

But before, McAfee flirted with the US presidency, country of which he was a national. “I’m not doing an ordinary campaign, I am wanted as a criminal by the government of which I am running for president. Yes, this is unusual, ”he said that 2019, which like so many others, has been a tumultuous year in his life. His eccentric attempt to get to the White House was made by the hand of the Libertarian Party. In 2016, he also tried his luck, but another candidate was chosen in his place.

3. A crime in Belize

After selling his business for nearly $ 100 million, McAfee began a unique life defined by escapes and jail time around the world. One of the episodes saw him involved in a homicide in Belize, where he had lived since 2008. Some time later he was accused of the murder of Gregory Faull, his neighbor. The British fled to Guatemala illegally crossing the border and were arrested there. He then faked a heart attack and avoided a first extradition, although he was later deported to the United States.

He was never formally charged with murder, but in March 2019, Florida justice ordered him to pay $ 25 million in a lawsuit filed by Faull’s heirs. McAfee said he wouldn’t give them a dime.

During these episodes it is said that the man he dyed his hair, painted his teeth and even changed his gums so they wouldn’t recognize him. Reports say he even hid in buried boxes to escape the police.

4. Prostitution, drugs, guns and your bitcoin adventure

“The prostitutes, the thieves, for some reason, have always fascinated me,” admitted McAfee in 2013. On several occasions he photographed himself with guns and was not afraid to post these images on the networks. As they count in BBC, his father was an alcoholic and committed suicide at the age of 15. The businessman himself admitted that he also drank excessively and used drugs of all kinds.

Earlier this year, he got involved in a cause for cryptocurrency scam. As we report here, US prosecutors indicted the businessman and his executive advisor Jimmy Gale Watson Jr. alleging that the duo made nearly $ 2 million between December 2017 and October 2019, urging them to invest in Reddcoin and Dogecoin digital currencies for by fraudulent mechanisms.

// John McAfee, creator of famous antivirus, accused of cryptocurrency scams

In a statement, prosecutor Audrey Strauss said that “McAfee and Watson have tapped a widely used social media platform and the enthusiasm of investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to earn millions through lying and deception”. Strauss added that “the defendants allegedly used McAfee’s Twitter account to post messages to hundreds of thousands of his Twitter followers promoting various virtual currencies through false and misleading statements to hide their true motives for personal interest”.

In his last tweet, he spoke about cryptocurrencies. “The United States thinks I have hidden cryptocurrencies. I wish it had, but it has been dissolved by the many hands of the McAfee team and all of my remaining assets are foreclosed. My friends evaporated for fear of association. I have nothing. However, I do not regret anything, “he wrote.

5. McAfee vs. McAffe

In addition to his lawsuits and sad demise, McAfee was an extravagant and alluring figure to many. To close this review of its eccentricities, we share a video in which the very founder of the antivirus explains how to uninstall it.

The creator of the antivirus explains how to uninstall it.