John McAfee, a controversial antivirus software mogul, has passed away at the age of 75. McAfee was arrested for tax evasion last year in the United States. He was currently being extradited to a Spanish prison.
McAfee, who was in prison near Barcelona at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, was found dead. ET, and a medical examiner are on the scene. This was according to CNN’s spokeswoman for the Superior Court of Catalonia. The cause of death was under investigation, she said.
The Justice Department of Catalonia, which manages the prisons, stated that guards and prison medical personnel tried to save McAfee’s life after McAfee was found. However, they were unsuccessful. According to the statement, “everything suggests” McAfee could have committed suicide.
A three-judge panel from Spain’s National Court in Madrid decided Wednesday that McAfee could face charges in the United States. A spokesperson for the National Court told CNN. According to court documents, that decision could have been appealed by another panel of judges from the same court.
McAfee was detained in Spain in October, months after he was indicted for tax evasion in the United States. According to court documents, McAfee allegedly failed to pay taxes for four years, despite making millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies, and the sale of his life story to make a documentary. Indictment did not specify the amount he owed.
McAfee argued in a virtual hearing before a Spanish court that the US tax evasion accusations against him were politically motivated. The Associated Press reported.
McAfee, the founder of the eponymous antivirus company with which he no longer is affiliated, was also charged in March with separate fraud and money laundering offenses. According to the US Department of Justice, McAfee and his business partner were accused of participating in a scheme that made more than $13,000,000 by misleading investors about cryptocurrencies.
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McAfee lived for the last two decades of his life, and it was filled with a bizarre array of events.
McAfee disappeared briefly in 2012 after fleeing from his Belize home to escape police who tried to question him about the death of his neighbor. (He denied any involvement in the death, and stated that he fled out of fear for his own life.
After spending time in Guatemala, he moved to Montreal, Canada where he began work on a documentary about him. As a Libertarian, he ran for the US presidency in 2016. He launched a security product that he called a “f—ing game-changer.”