The founder of McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison

06.24.2021, 08:31

The American and British programmer and businessman, the founder of McAfee, John Makafi, found dead in the Spanish prison, the País newspaper reports with reference to sources.

According to the publication, prison employees found him hanged. According to sources, the businessman committed suicide. This happened on the same day when the National Court of Spain approved Makafi's extradition to the United States.

Lawyer Makafi Javier Willba confirmed Reuters the death of his client. According to him, nine months spent in prison brought Makafi to despair. “This is the result of a ruthless system that has no reason to keep him in prison for so long,” said Willba.

John Makafi was 75 years old. In 1987, he founded McAfee, which develops antivirus software. In 2011, the company was acquired by Intel Corporation.

Makafi was detained at Barcelona Airport in October 2020 at the request of the United States. According to the US prosecutor’s office, he evaded paying taxes on the sale of cryptocurrencies, consultations, paid speeches and selling rights to the history of his life for a documentary. The department said that from 2014 to 2018, Makafi did not file tax returns, despite significant income from these sources. Makafi himself did not plead guilty and stated that the US authorities were using the case against him to “reprisse against cryptocurrencies”.