The creator of the antivirus McAfee died in a Spanish prison; suicide is presumed – Telam

John David McAfee, creator of one of the world’s leading computer antivirus programs and recently approved for extradition to the United States for an alleged tax crime, was found dead on Wednesday, apparently by suicide, in his cell. a prison in Spain, prison sources reported.

The body of McAfee, 75. He was found in module 1 of the Brians 2 penitentiary center in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Barcelona, where he was admitted on October 4 by order of the Audiencia Nacional. The professionals of the surveillance and the medical services of the prison intervened immediately to carry out resuscitation maneuvers but finally the doctors declared his death, specified the Ministry of Justice of the Generalitat.

The judicial procession went to the penitentiary center and investigated the causes of the event, although “Everything indicates that it could be a death by suicide”, said a spokesperson for the Generalitat.

The Spanish justice had just authorized the extradition to the United States of McAfee, creator of the famous antivirus which bears his last name, for an alleged tax offense.

McAfee, a businessman who has dedicated himself to cryptocurrency trading in recent years, had been arrested in October at Barcelona airport, and placed in preventive prison pending the resolution of the extradition request.

The decision of the Spanish National Court is dated Monday but was issued on Wednesday, according to AFP and Europa Press news agencies.

North American authorities have requested extradition claiming to have earned over $ 10 million between 2014 and 2018 through activity with cryptocurrencies, advisory services, lectures, and selling the rights to make a documentary about his life.

However, “He did not file any tax returns in any of those years and did not pay any of his tax obligations.”, according to the order of the National Court, the Madrid-based tribunal de grande instance.

“To hide his income and his property”, the defendant “ordered the payment of part of his income to straw men and put properties in their name”, adds the file, which cites the argument of the US tax administration, which the businessman’s debt to $ 4.2 million before penalties and interest.

McAfee made his fortune in the 1980s with his eponymous antivirus, which still bears his name. And in 2019, he was arrested in the Dominican Republic.

In a tweet posted to his account last Wednesday, McAfee wrote that U.S. officials believed he had “been hiding cryptocurrencies.”

“I would like to have them, but my remaining possessions are all confiscated, my friends evaporated for fear of being associated with me, I have nothing and I do not regret anything“, ready.