McAfee’s founder arrested in Spain and charged with tax evasion: NPR

John McAfee giving a speech on August 16, 2016 in Beijing, China. McAfee has been arrested in Spain on charges of tax evasion.

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Visual China group by Getty Images

John McAfee giving a speech on August 16, 2016 in Beijing, China. McAfee has been arrested in Spain on charges of tax evasion.

Visual China group by Getty Images

Computer antivirus pioneer John McAfee fee Tweeted Last year he had not filed a tax return in eight years.

That was fine, he explained. He “ended up making money.” Its “net income is negative.”

“Taxes are illegal,” he said.

McAfee has now been arrested in Spain Tax evasion costs. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused him of failing to file a return despite earning millions from 2014 to 2018. Accused Unsold on Monday.

He allegedly “sold his life story rights to promote crypto-currency, advisory work, engagement bidding and documentation.” According to the Department of Justice, U.S. His extradition is pending.

Prosecutors said he allegedly waived the tax by directing his income to be paid into bank accounts and permanent cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of others. He also hid real property, including a vehicle and a yacht, in other people’s names.

If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a 1. 1.75 million fine.

McAfee was once a leading figure in the software industry.

He founded McAfee, LLC, which was It was bought by Intel in 2010 for 7.68 billion. The company was not cited in the indictment.

But in recent years, he has made international headlines for other reasons: his involvement in the Belize murder investigation fails Presidency, Exile from Guatemala, And being Detained in the Dominican Republic, To name a few.

In 2012, he fled his home in Belize after the murder of his neighbor, Gregory Fouley. He fled to Guatemala after becoming an interested person – Not suspicious – In this case and said he is in danger of his life.

He was in Belize in the first place Reduce its taxes.

Eventually, its The location in Guatemala was revealed by metadata of photos posted online by Vice Magazine. He was arrested for entering the country illegally and deported to the US

Then, last year, the U.S. District Court, in a wrongful death lawsuit for Folk’s death, ordered Cafe to pay million 25 million Florida record.

A fee she said she would not pay and she was “never suspected of murder” One line He posted on Twitter last March.

“I haven’t answered a single one of my lawsuits in the last 11 years. It’s all in vain,” he wrote, ordering a legal extortion game aimed at America’s affluent class.

He claimed to have “no assets” and said he would not be able to pay, even if someone demanded a claim.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission a Complaint In the Southern District of New York against McAfee.

The complaint claims that McAfee “increased his reputation” by falsely earning more than 23 23 million from 2017 to 2018.

McAfee is accused of making recommendations Among the early coin offerings Cryptocurrency to his Twitter followers without disclosing that he is being paid. Instead, he passed it on as fair investment advice.

It has millions of Twitter followers at the time of writing.

In the midst of its international involvement, McAfee has also made inroads in U.S. politics. He made two bids for the US presidency, first in 2016 and soon again in 2020.

After floating the idea of ​​originally creating Its own party, called the Cyber ​​Party, He ran both times as a libertarian. They either failed to secure the party’s nomination.

His wife’s name, Janice McAfee, was posted on a Twitter account Statement She defended her husband on Tuesday (and noted that both her and her husband’s account were “staffed by interns”).

“Regardless of what John does or doesn’t do,” Janice McAfee said, “he has spent most of his retirement fighting not only for his own freedom, but for the freedom of everyone.”