Arrested in October Last Year on Tax Evasion Charges
Immediately After Spanish Court Approves Extradition to the US
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] John McAfee (photo), the founder of the American security company McAfee, made an extreme choice on the 23rd (local time) at a Spanish detention center.
According to US economic media CNBC and others, McAfee was found dead in his cell at the Barcelona detention center that afternoon. This came shortly after the Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges.
McAfee's lawyer confirmed to major foreign media, "It is clear that he hanged himself in the detention center." The detention center medical staff attempted emergency resuscitation after McAfee made the extreme attempt, but the 75-year-old ultimately died, reported the Spanish daily El Mundo.
McAfee was arrested last October at Barcelona Airport. This was due to his indictment last June on charges of tax evasion committed in the United States from 2016 to 2018.
The US prosecution believes 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 supportive tweets to artificially inflate cryptocurrency prices and repeatedly engaging in high-frequency trading to gain illicit profits.
McAfee claimed that there was a political motive behind the US prosecution's indictment, but the Spanish prosecution dismissed his claims, stating that McAfee was simply a tax evader. He could have appealed the Spanish court's decision but apparently made the extreme choice in protest against the extradition decision.
McAfee, who became a billionaire by developing a computer security program bearing his name, attracted attention for his eccentric behavior. He even described himself as a "weird millionaire" in his Twitter bio.
After handing over his company to Intel in 2011, he was wanted locally in Belize in 2012 on suspicion of murdering a neighbor. He then fled to Guatemala and was deported to the United States. In 2016, he founded the Cyber Party and ran for the US presidential election, and also declared his candidacy in the 2020 election.
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