Anti-virus software entrepreneur John McAfee has been found dead in a Barcelona prison cell, just hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the US to face tax evasion charges.
The Catalan Justice Department said prison medics tried to resuscitate him, but were not successful.
It said in a statement that “everything indicates” Mr McAfee took his own life.
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A controversial figure, Mr McAfee’s company released the first commercial anti-virus software.
It helped to spark a multi-billion dollar industry in the computer world.
In October 2020, he was arrested in Spain, and accused of failing to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, crypto-currencies and selling the rights to his life story.
The US Justice Department alleged that Mr McAfee evaded tax liability by having his income paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of nominees.
He was also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, in the names of others.