FILE PHOTO: Computer software pioneer John McAfee speaks with reporters outside his hotel in Miami Beach, Florida December 13, 2012. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo
October 6, 2020
BARCELONA (Reuters) – John McAfee, an anti-virus software creator indicted in the United States on fraud charges, has been arrested in Barcelona airport, a Spanish police source said on Tuesday.
He was detained on Saturday as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul with a British passport, the source told Reuters, adding that he would be transferred to Spain’s capital Madrid to face an extradition process.
U.S. federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment on Monday against McAfee over charges that he evaded taxes and willfully failed to file returns.
That came shortly after the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed it had brought civil charges against McAfee, alleging he made over $23.1 million in undisclosed compensation from false and misleading cryptocurrency recommendations.
He is alleged to have earned millions in income from promoting cryptocurrencies, as well as through consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.
(Reporting by Joan Faus and Inti Landauro; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)