McAfee founder commits suicide in Spanish jail

AFP Barcelona –  The creator of the computer antivirus McAfee was found dead this Wednesday, June 23, in his cell in a Spanish jail, apparently by suicide, hours after the National Court had approved the extradition to his country of origin, the United States, an official spokeswoman reported.

“He was found dead in his cell apparently by suicide,” reported the spokeswoman for the penitentiary system in Catalonia, without further details.

British-born John McAfee was accused in the United States of tax fraud. The 75-year-old businessman was found dead in his cell in the Brians 2 prison located near Barcelona.

After making his fortune with his antivirus in the 1980s, McAfee became a cryptocurrency guru and was followed by close to a million people on Twitter.

He was arrested in October 2020  using his British passport at the Barcelona airport after the publication by a US attorney of an indictment against him for having failed to declare millions of dollars of income from the promotion of cryptocurrencies, consulting services, conferences, and rights sold for a documentary about his life.

The US authorities had issued an arrest warrant by Interpol and requested his extradition.

The authorization of the Spanish justice to his extradition could still be appealed and the authorization had to be approved by the Spanish government.

McAfee created controversy in 2012 when his neighbor in Belize, was found mysteriously murdered in a case that has yet to be solved.

Police discovered that he was living with a 17-year-old girl and possessed weapons in her home.

McAfee was on the run for months and in 2015 he was arrested in the United States for driving under the influence of narcotics. In 2019 he left his country again.