McAfee Founder Commits Suicide in Spanish Detention Center

Immediately After US Extradition Decision

John McAfee, founder of the American security company McAfee
[Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] John McAfee, the founder of the American security company McAfee, made an extreme choice on the 23rd (local time) in a Spanish detention center.

McAfee was found dead in his cell at a Barcelona detention center on the same day, according to reports from CNBC and others. This occurred shortly after the Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges.

McAfee's lawyer told major foreign media on the day, "He hanged himself in prison." The Spanish daily El Mundo reported, "The prison medical staff attempted emergency resuscitation but could not save him."

McAfee was arrested last October at Barcelona Airport. This was due to his indictment in June last year on charges of tax evasion committed in the United States from 2016 to 2018.

The U.S. prosecutors believe that during that period he earned millions of dollars without reporting any income and held real estate, vehicles, and yachts under false names.

In March, he was additionally indicted on charges of posting false endorsement tweets to artificially inflate cryptocurrency prices and repeatedly engaging in high-frequency trading to gain illicit profits when prices rose.

McAfee claimed that there was a political motive behind the U.S. prosecutors' indictment, but the Spanish prosecutors dismissed his claims, stating that McAfee was simply a tax evader.