According to news reports, John McAfee has been found dead in his cell in a jail near Barcelona. Hours ago, a Spanish court issued a preliminary ruling in favour of his extradition to the United States to face tax-related criminal charges.
A statement from the regional Catalan government said, security personnel at the Brians 2 penitentiary near the north-eastern Spanish city tried to revive McAfee, who was 75, but the jail’s medical team finally certified his death. The statement didn’t identify the US tycoon by name, but said he was a 75-year-old US citizen awaiting extradition to the country. A Catalan government source familiar with the event who was not authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to the news source that the dead man was McAfee.
Spain’s National Court had approved the extradition of detained antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee to the United States, where he was wanted on tax-related criminal charges that carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years. The decision can be appealed and the final extradition will need to be approved by the Spanish Cabinet.
Tennessee prosecutors charged 75-year-old McAfee with evading taxes after failing to report income made from promoting cryptocurrencies while he did consultancy work, as well as income from speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. According to the Spanish court's ruling, the charges refer to the three fiscal years from 2016 to 2018. McAfee was arrested last October at Barcelona’s international airport. A judge ordered at that time that McAfee should be held in jail while awaiting the outcome of a hearing on extradition.
