John McAfee Found Dead Hours After Spanish Court Approved Extradition To US, Wrote Alarming Message In 2020
John McAfee, the founder of the antivirus software company McAfee, is reported to have hung himself in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday, only hours after a judge decided that he would be extradited to face criminal charges in the United States.
According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, authorities stated a preliminary inquiry found no evidence of foul play.
According to police sources, the 75-year-old computer entrepreneur was detained in October and was awaiting extradition at the Barcelona prison when he was discovered dead by hanging.
According to the publication, McAfee was removed from his cell in Barcelona, and authorities are investigating his death.
“Everything points to suicide,” the newspaper said, citing authorities from the country’s justice department. El Mundo, a second Spanish publication, likewise described McAfee’s death in prison as an apparent suicide.
McAfee had been charged with a variety of federal financial offenses in two districts in the United States, and the Spanish High Court had decided to extradite him earlier on Wednesday.
In October, McAfee was indicted on ten counts in the Western District of Tennessee for allegedly avoiding taxes on millions of dollars in income. During that time, McAfee made a post to Twitter.
“I am content in here. I have friends. The food is good. All is well. Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine,” John McAfee, a verified user on Twitter wrote.
I am content in here. I have friends.
The food is good. All is well.
Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.
— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) October 15, 2020
Prosecutors in Tennessee said that McAfee earned millions of dollars through speaking appearances, selling his personal story for a documentary, and consultancy services.
According to the feds, he then avoided paying taxes on all of his earnings from 2014 to 2018.
According to authorities, John McAfee was detained in Guatemala’s capital for illegal entry and was questioned by Interpol at police headquarters on December 5, 2012.
He was also accused with a pump-and-dump scam involving cryptocurrencies that he was promoting on social media in a second indictment in Manhattan federal court in March.
In one instance, McAfee and an accomplice are accused of defrauding bitcoin investors out of $13 million via two methods, one of which included buying huge amounts of “alt-coin” and then inflating the price by promoting it on Twitter.
Prosecutors claim they subsequently sold the bitcoin at the inflated price and profited $2 million.
According to Reuters, McAfee argued that the federal tax evasion accusations against him were politically motivated during an extradition hearing earlier this month.
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