LAST UPDATE | 23 Jun 2021

JOHN MCAFEE, THE creator of the McAfee antivirus software, has been found dead in his cell in a jail near Barcelona, a government official told The Associated Press.

Hours earlier, a Spanish court issued a preliminary ruling in favour of his extradition to the United States to face tax-related criminal charges.

Security personnel at the Brians 2 penitentiary near the north-eastern Spanish city tried to revive McAfee, who was 75, but the jail’s medical team finally certified his death, a statement from the regional Catalan government said.

The statement did not identify the US tycoon by name, but said he was a 75-year-old US citizen awaiting extradition to the country.

Earlier today, the Spanish National Court approved the extradition of detained antivirus software entrepreneur John McAfee to the United States, where he is wanted on tax-related criminal charges.

The decision could be appealed and the final extradition will need to be approved by the Spanish Cabinet.

Tennessee prosecutors charged 75-year-old McAfee with evading taxes after failing to report income made from promoting cryptocurrencies while he did consultancy work, as well as income from speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.

The charges, which carry a prison sentence of up to 30 years, refer to the three fiscal years from 2016 to 2018, according to the Spanish court’s ruling on Wednesday.

The entrepreneur was arrested last October at Barcelona’s international airport.

A judge ordered at that time that McAfee should be held in jail while awaiting the outcome of a hearing on extradition.