John McAfee, the antivirus software entrepreneur, has allegedly committed suicide and was found dead in his cell in Spain.
This was hours after the country’s highest court approved his extradition to the United States, where he was wanted on tax-related criminal charges that carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
This was confirmed by Catalan’s regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, in a statement.
According to the report, McAfee, 75, was found dead in the Brians 2 prison near Barcelona, late on Wednesday.
The Catalan justice department said that prison officers and medics had tried to save the life of a 75-year-old man but had been unsuccessful.
Judicial staff have been dispatched to the prison and are investigating the causes of death. Everything points to death by suicide,” the statement said.
McAfee’s lawyer also confirmed the alleged suicide when he told Reuters on Wednesday evening that McAfee had apparently hanged himself in his prison cell.
What you need to know about McAfee
Earlier on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, Spain’s highest court approved McAfee’s extradition to the United States, although the decision could be appealed and the extradition would have had to be approved by the Spanish cabinet.
“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 offence indictments for years 2016 to 2018,” read the 16-page ruling.
The creator of the McAfee antivirus software was arrested last October at Barcelona International Airport as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul.
The arrest of the entrepreneur came a day after authorities made public, a US indictment stemming from alleged tax offences. Tennessee prosecutors had charged 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.
Since making a fortune in the 1980s with the software that still bears his name, McAfee had engaged in increasingly erratic behaviour, most recently as a self-styled cryptocurrency guru claiming to make $2,000 a day.
