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John McAfee: Anti-virus creator dies in Spanish prison

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Updated on July 27, 2021

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John McAfee, a British-born American technology entrepreneur, committed suicide in a Barcelona prison after the Spanish high court approved his extradition to the United States on tax evasion charges, according to his lawyer.

Medics attempted but failed to resuscitate the 75-year-old, according to the Catalan justice department.

“Judicial staff have been dispatched to the prison and are investigating the causes of death,” according to the statement. “Everything points to death by suicide.”

The peculiar cryptocurrency marketer and tax skeptic, whose legal woes spanned Tennessee, Central America, and the Caribbean, was discovered in the Brians 2 jail in north-eastern Spain.

McAfee’s lawyer, Javier Villalba, claimed the anti-virus software pioneer died by hanging because he was depressed after nine months in prison.

The arrest came after he was charged with tax evasion in Tennessee the same month for failing to declare revenue from promoting cryptocurrency while doing consultancy work, making speeches and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary. The criminal charges carried a maximum punishment of 30 years in jail.

McAfee, 75, stated in court last month that if convicted in the United States, he would spend the rest of his life in prison due to his age. “I am hoping that the Spanish court will see the injustice of this,” he stated, adding that “the US wants to use me as an example.”

McAfee VirusScan was instrumental in launching a multibillion-dollar computer business, and it was subsequently purchased by Intel for more than $7.6 billion (£4.7 billion).

McAfee’s extradition to the United States was granted by Spain’s highest court, according to a statement.

The 16-page judgment stated, “The court agrees to grant the extradition of John David McAfee as requested by the American judicial authorities for the crimes referred to in the tax offense indictments for years 2016 to 2018.”

“Nishay Sanan, the Chicago-based attorney defending him on those cases, said by phone that McAfee “will always be remembered as a fighter.”

“He tried to love this country but the U.S. government made his existence impossible,” Sanan added. “They tried to erase him, but they failed.”

McAfee had been on the run from US authorities for years, spending some of that time inside a megayacht.

The entrepreneur, who was born in Gloucestershire, England, rose to popularity in the 1980s after launching his software firm and releasing McAfee VirusScan.

McAfee’s conduct has become increasingly unpredictable, most recently as a self-proclaimed cryptocurrency guru who claimed to make $2,000 each day.

According to a Spanish court document obtained by AP, Tennessee prosecutors said that McAfee owed the US government $4,214,105 in taxes for unreported income in the five fiscal years from 2014 to 2018, before fines or interests.

Before creating the world’s first commercial anti-virus in 1987, McAfee worked for NASA, Xerox, and Lockheed Martin. Intel (INTC.O) purchased it in 2011 when McAfee no longer had any active involvement with the firm, . His name is still on the software, which has 500 million users worldwide.

Despite being a computer security pioneer, he acknowledged to the BBC that he never used the program – or any anti-virus software for that matter – on his personal machines.

In 2013, he told the BBC’s technology correspondent Leo Kelion, “I protect myself by constantly changing my IP [internet protocol] address, by not attaching my name to any device I use, and by not going on to sites where you might pick up a virus.”

“Porn sites, for example, I just don’t go there.”

McAfee’s private life attracted as much attention as his career achievements. He ran for President of the United States twice as a long shot and took part in the Libertarian Party’s presidential debates in 2016. Following the unexplained 2012 death of a neighbor in Belize, he dabbled in yoga, ultra-light aircraft, and herbal medication production, promoted conspiracy theories on social media, and became the target of feverish media investigation.