TECH MOGUL DEAD
Antivirus pioneer John McAfee ‘hangs himself’ after he was to be extradited to US for ‘evading taxes for three years’
ANTIVIRUS pioneer John McAfee has been found dead in a Spanish jail cell hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the US to face tax evasion charges.
allegedly took his own life in prison in on Wednesday, his lawyer confirmed.
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— reportedly by hanging — came just hours after Spain's National Court approved his extradition to the , where he was wanted on tax-related that carried a sentence of up to 30 years.
The British born antivirus entrepreneur could have appealed this decision and the Spanish government would have had to appeal a final extradition.
Following his reported death, an old of McAfee's resurfaced alleging " I was whackd. Check my right arm."
The tweet included a photograph of himself with a tattoo that said $WHACKD and the caption read: "Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: 'We're coming for you McAfee! We're going to kill yourself'. I got a tattoo today just in case."
News of McAfee's death comes after:
- He was charged over a
- His were revealed
- McAfee over "multi-million dollar tax evasion"
- He claimed he had if he died
But authorities said an initial investigation found no signs of foul play, the Spanish newspaper .
McAfee had reportedly been dragged from his cell after apparently hanging himself — with a justice department official insisting: "Everything points to suicide".
Prison sources told the Spanish newspaper , just hours before his death McAfee had decided to stay in his cell at 4pm after eating.
Inmates are allowed to do this if they do not want to go down to the yard or do not have any activities scheduled.
At that time he was alone in his cell.
The prison sources claim that during those two or so hours "no one could have gone into his cell because due to protocols they remain closed. They can’t go from one place to the other".
At 6.15pm, prison guards found McAfee’s body.
McAfee had been arrested on October 3 of last year at El Prat airport in , as he was about to flee the country to .
That same month, McAfee was charged in with evading taxes after failing to report income made from promoting while he did consulting work, made speaking engagements and sold the rights to his life story for a documentary.
McAfee sold his antivirus company to Intel for $7.7billion in 2011.
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The pioneer who developed early internet security software has been sought by authorities in the US and in the past over tax
The Tennessee indictment said McAfee failed to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018, despite receiving "considerable income" from several sources.
According to a June 15 indictment, allegedly earned millions from speaking engagements, consulting, promoting cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.
The indictment did not allege that the tech boss received any income in relation with McAfee Associates.
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In a hearing held via videolink earlier this month, McAfee argued the charges against him were politically motivated and said he would spend the rest of his life in prison if he was returned to the US.
Back in March, McAfee was also charged over a $13million cryptocurrency "scam" after allegedly luring victims on Twitter.
The McAfee Associates founder was also hit with a slew of charges, including money laundering and fraud, in federal court.
The charges stemmed from two schemes concerning the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies, the US Department of Justice said.
McAfee and his bodyguard, Jimmy Gale Watson Jr, were charged for a scheme to exploit McAfee's Twitter following by publicly touting cryptocurrency offerings and digital tokens that they later sold once prices rose on the promotions, according to the DOJ.
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Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss said that McAfee, Watson, 40, and other members of the "cryptocurrency team" allegedly gained more than $13million from investors "they victimized with their fraudulent schemes."
His full slew of charges were conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities and touting fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud, and money laundering.
He was also charged with conspiracy offenses stemming from two schemes relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities. If convicted, McAfee would have faced up to 60 years in prison.
Back in July 2019, McAfee was arrested, and later released, by Dominican Republican Armed Forces in Puerto Plata after being suspected of having high-caliber weapons, ammunition and military-style gear while on his boat.
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Who was John McAfee?
was born in 1945 on a US Army base in , before being raised in .
After working as a programmer and software designer for several companies, including , he began to develop software to combat viruses.
In 1987 he founded McAfee Associates, a computer antivirus company.
Eventually Intel bought McAfee and changed the name of the branding - something McAfee expressed pleasure over.
In August 2009, reported that his personal fortune had fallen to $4million from $100million.
He moved to Belize and wanted to find medicinal uses for plants on his land.
At the DEF CON conference in in August 2014 he warned Americans not to use smartphones - suggesting apps are used to spy on clueless customers who do not read privacy agreements.
He announced he would seek the office of President of the United States in the 2016 Presidential campaign as a candidate of the Libertarian Party. He lost the Libertarian Party's nomination to Gary Johnson.
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In May 2016 he was appointed chief executive chairman and CEO of MGT Capital Investments, later announcing that it would be renamed John McAfee Global Technologies.
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He then claimed he and his team had exploited a flaw in the operating system that allowed him to read encrypted messages from .
John McAfee had ‘WHACKD’ tattoo and once said if he was ever found dead in ‘suicide’ he ‘DIDN’T kill himself’
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.