Internet security pioneer John McAfee died in a Spanish prison on Wednesday at the age of 75, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported. McAfee’s lawyer said John McAfee committed suicide out of despair during his nine months in prison. Prison authorities are investigating the cause of death.
On October 3, 2020, anti-virus software pioneer and McAfee founder John McAfee was arrested in Spain on fraud, tax evasion, money laundering and other charges, and is being held in Spain pending extradition to the United States.
On October 5, the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against John McAfee for alleged tax evasion, alleging that McAfee earned millions of dollars from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking and selling biography rights, but that between 2014 and 2018, John McAfee did not file a tax return.
Photo source:https://www.justice.gov/opa/p…
At a court hearing last month, John McAfee said that because of his age, if convicted in the United States, he would spend the rest of his life in prison. “I hope that the Spanish courts will see the injustice and that the United States wants to make an example of me.”
McAfee has been on the run from U.S. authorities for years, being charged with tax evasion in Tennessee and cryptocurrency fraud in New York.
On Wednesday, Spain’s High Court agreed to extradite McAfee back to the United States. Hours later, McAfee was found dead in his cell. His lawyer, Javier Villalba, said McAfee still had the opportunity to appeal, but he could not bear to remain incarcerated.
“This is the result of a cruel system,” Villalba said. “There is no reason to keep this man in prison for that long.” Now that John McAfee has died, US prosecutors may ask the judge in his tax evasion case to dismiss the charges.
In his last tweet on June 19, McAfee said: “All power corrupts. Beware what you allow a democratic government to exercise.”
On June 20, Janice McAfee, John McAfee’s wife, tweeted: “US authorities are determined to let John McAfee die in prison and make him a poster child for speaking out against corruption within US government institutions. John McAfee will never have any hope of getting a fair trial in the United States. There is no justice in the United States.”
The legendary life of John McAfee
John McAfee was a British-born American programmer, businessman and politician. He has worked for NASA, Xerox and Lockheed Martin. He ran for president of the United States in 2016 and 2019.
Founded McAfee Associates in 1987 and launched the world’s first commercial anti-virus software. He resigned in 1994 and sold McAfee to Intel in 2011. The app still bears his name and has 500 million users worldwide.
In addition to his status as an anti-virus software pioneer, John McAfee has been accompanied by a series of topical events.
He went on the run in 2012 after allegedly killing his neighbor and broadcast his life on the run online. He said he met his wife, Janice McAfee, while on the run. In 2018, John McAfee said he fathered at least 47 children.
In May 2016, John McAfee took over as CEO of MGT and started the Bitcoin mining business.
In 2019, he said he had not paid U.S. income taxes for eight years, citing ideological reasons. That same year, he fled the country to avoid trial, spending most of his time living on a superyacht with his wife, four large dogs, two security guards and seven crew members.
John McAfee was arrested in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2020 and held in custody for nine months. John McAfee was found dead in prison hours after a court agreed to extradite him to the United States.
Reference link:
- https://www.reuters.com/legal…
- https://www.elmundo.es/tecnol…
- https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-c…