According to news published by local media outlet, Spanish Police, sources have revealed that John McAfee, founder of McAfee antivirus software and popular crypto proponent, has committed suicide in prison.
John McAfee is Dead
The British-American businessman, who has been in detention since last October for ICO fraud and tax evasion charges, was found dead in his cell at Brians 2 prison in Sant Esteve de Sesrovires, Barcelona.
Spanish law enforcement agents are still investigating the matter, but so far all indications point to the fact that McAfee did commit suicide.
The sad development came moments after news broke that a Spanish high court had ordered the extradition of the businessman to the United States.
The Ordeal
Recall that McAfee, on orders from the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ), was arrested on October 3, 2020 at a Spanish airport while trying to board a plane to Turkey.
The authorities accused the software engineer of tax evasion worth millions of dollars between 2016 and 2018.
While still in prison, the 75-year old businessman was slammed with money laundering charges and conspiracy to commit fraud due to his role in promoting Initial Coin Offerings for crypto projects like $GHOST, to his large Twitter followers.
Coinfomania reported that the cybersecurity expert did not deny the allegations levied against him, as he claimed the charges had a political undertone because of his plans to run for the U.S. presidency.
However, McAfee’s defense that the charges were politically motivated was thrown out, with Spanish prosecutor Carlos Bautista calling him a tax dodger.
The popular crypto proponent tweeted in August that $GHOST will fail, and subsequently made a U-turn in October to throw his weight behind the cryptocurrency.
This did not go down well with U.S. regulators as they believed the motive for supporting the cryptocurrency again was to inflate its price.
