John McAfee found dead in Spanish jail, hours after U.S. extradition judgement

Antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee died in a Spanish detention cell by apparent suicide Wednesday evening, hours after the news appeared that he would be extradited to face criminal tax evasion charges in the United States. 

The 75-year-old McAfee was first reported deceased by the Spanish daily El Mundo, according to the Catalan Justice Department. 

“Everything points to suicide,” the newspaper reported, citing justice department officials in the country, New York Post quoted. 

El Mundo reported, citing the Catalan Justice Department, that medical staff at the jail attempted to resuscitate him. McAfee was imprisoned in Catalunya's Brians 2 prison.

McAfee has been charged with a number of federal financial offenses in two US districts, and the Spanish High Court decided to extradite him earlier on Wednesday.

In October, McAfee was indicted on ten counts in the Western District of Tennessee for allegedly avoiding taxes on millions of dollars in earnings.

After the indictment was handed out, officials in Spain detained him, and he has been held in jail in the nation ever since.

According to the indictment, McAfee made millions of dollars via cryptocurrency promotion, consultancy work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.

The US Justice Department stated in October that from 2014 through 2018, McAfee allegedly neglected to file tax returns, despite earning substantial money from these sources.

In March, he was accused in the second indictment in Manhattan federal court for a cryptocurrency pump and dump scam that he promoted on social media.

In one instance, McAfee and an accomplice are accused of defrauding bitcoin investors out of $13 million through two scams, one of which included buying huge quantities of "alt-coin" and then inflating the price by promoting it on Twitter.

Prosecutors claim they subsequently sold the bitcoin at an inflated price and profited $2 million.

“The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized,” McAfee tweeted last week regarding his criminal prosecution.

“My friends evaporated through fear of association. I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing,” wrote McAfee in the tweet, which is pinned to the top of his Twitter feed.

With inputs from CNBC

Picture Credits: BBC