McAfee had been in Spanish custody since October 2020 on a June 2020 US indictment in which he was charged with failing to file four years of tax returns while concealing assets. Then in March, he was indicted and accused of fraud and money laundering over his use of social media to promote cryptocurrencies, which prosecutors said generated $13min illicit gains for McAfee and a co-conspirator, according to Bloomberg.
McAfee became a prominent booster of cryptocurrencies in recent years, unsuccessfully ran for US president, and had numerous run-ins with the law and traded in extreme conspiracy theories.
Nishay Sanan, McAfee’s attorney, said his colleagues in Spain confirmed that McAfee had been found dead in his jail cell. Sanan claimed the US government had identified McAfee as a target and 'tried to erase him, but failed.'
“John lived his life the way he saw fit,” Sanan said. “In the end that is all that matters. You don’t have to agree with his way -- he did not care.”
The Justice Department declined to comment and a spokeswoman referred questions to Spanish authorities.
McAfee founded McAfee Corp in 1987 in Santa Clara, California, and led the company as it dominated the market for antivirus protection of personal computers. Half of all Fortune 100 companies were using his software during that time. McAfee resigned in 1994.
