McAfee antivirus creator dead in Spanish prison

John McAfee, the creator of the McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in a Spanish prison.

He was 75.

Hours earlier, a Spanish court issued a preliminary ruling in favor of the 75-year-old tycoon's extradition to the United States to face tax-related criminal charges.

According to CNN, McAfee was found dead in his cell in a prison near Barcelona on Wednesday around 1 pm ET, according to a spokesperson for the Superior Court of Catalonia.

The Catalonia regional government Justice Department said that prison medical personnel and guards attempted to perform life-saving procedures after finding McAfee, but were unsuccessful. The statement said "everything indicates" that McAfee could have died by suicide.

Earlier that day, a three-judge panel at Spain's National Court in Madrid ruled that McAfee could be extradited to the United States to face charges there, a National Court spokesman told CNN.

McAfee was arrested in Spain in October last year after he was indicted in the US for tax evasion months ago.

He allegedly failed to file taxes for four years despite earning millions in income between 2014 and 2018 from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary, according to court documents.

McAfee was also in March on separate fraud and money laundering charges. He was accused by the US State Department of participating with a business partner in a scheme that earned more than USD 13 million by falsely promoting cryptocurrencies to unwitting investors.

CNN reported that in 2012, McAfee briefly vanished after fleeing his home in Belize because local police tried to question him on the death of his neighbor. However, he has denied involvement in the death and claimed he fled because he feared for his life.

He ran for US president in 2016 as a Libertarian, and launched a new security product, calling it a 'game changer'.