Why was the tech pioneer John McAfee in a Barcelona prison?

Anti-virus entrepreneur was facing tax evasion charges in the US

John McAfee, founder of McAfee Antivirus, appears via videoconference during his extradition hearing at Audiencia Nacional court, in Madrid, Spain. EPA

McAfee speaks during the China Internet Security Conference in Beijing, 2016. He was found dead in a prison cell near Barcelona this week. AFP

McAfee speaks during an interview in Havana, Cuba, 2019. Reuters

McAfee speaks at the Malta Blockchain Summit in St Julian's, Malta, 2018. Reuters

McAfee announces his candidacy for president in Opelika, Alabama, 2015. Opelika-Auburn News via AP

McAfee is escorted by immigration officers to the airport in Guatemala City, 2012. Reuters

McAfee talks on his mobile phone as he walks on Ocean Drive in the South Beach area of Miami, Florida in 2012. AP

McAfee speaks during an interview with Reuters in Guatemala City, 2012. Reuters

Anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out to establish the cause of death, which authorities believe was suicide.

The former tech pioneer was no stranger to controversy during his lifetime and was regularly involved in legal issues.

Why was he being held in a Spanish prison? 

McAfee’s body was discovered at the Brians 2 prison in north-east Spain, 60 kilometres from Barcelona.

His death came after Spain's National Court cleared his extradition to the US over tax evasion charges in the state of Tennessee.

McAfee was arrested in October at Barcelona’s international airport as he tried to board a flight to Turkey using a British passport.

He had been in jail since then awaiting the outcome of the extradition proceedings.

McAfee, 75, faced a lengthy prison sentence and had said he would die in prison if he was sent to back to the US to face charges.

When did his legal troubles start? 

McAfee had been a fugitive since 2019 after a grand jury in Tennessee indicted him on tax-related charges.

Prosecutors argued that McAfee owed the US government $4.2 million in taxes for undeclared income from 2014 to 2018.

The state of Tennessee said he had failed to report income from promoting cryptocurrency, consultation work, public speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.

McAfee said in 2019 that he had not paid US income taxes for eight years for ideological reasons.

In 2012 he was wanted for questioning in connection with the killing of Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death in early November 2012 in Belize, but he was not charged.

A Florida court ordered him in 2019 to pay $25m to Faull's estate in a wrongful death claim, but McAfee refused to pay.

In July of that year he was released from detention in the Dominican Republic after he and five others were suspected of travelling on a yacht carrying weapons and ammunition.