John McAfee, the creator of the anti-virus software program McAfee, was found dead in a Barcelona prison cell hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the United States, BBC News reports.
- Catalan Justice Department told BBC News that prison medical officials tried to bring him back to life, but weren’t successful.
- The department said “everything indicates” he killed himself.
Why was McAfee in trouble?
McAfee faced tax evasion charges in the United States. McAfee was arrested in Spain in October 2020 after he was accused of failing to file any tax returns for several years, according to BBC News.
- He didn’t file the taxes even though he earned money from speeches, events, cryptocurrency and more.
- Per Fox Business, McAfee said taxes were illegal, which is why he didn’t pay his taxes for more than eight years, according to Fox Business.
McAfee and crypto allegations
McAfee was charged in a Manhattan federal court in March 2021 because of an alleged “pump-and-dump” scheme over cryptocurrency, CNBC reports.
McAfee reportedly bought large amount of cheap cryptocurrencies and then promoted them on the internet, according to CNBC. He reportedly used “false and misleading tweets” to raise their market price.
- “McAfee team members collectively earned more than $2 million in illicit profits from their altcoin scalping activities,” the Justice Department said in March, according to CNBC.
McAfee sent out tweets from prison, somehow, about the allegations.
- He wrote, “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.”
- “My friends evaporated through fear of association. I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing,” wrote McAfee on Twitter.