John McAfee, an antivirus software creator indicted in the US on fraud charges, has been arrested at Barcelona airport, a Spanish police source said yesterday.
He was detained on Saturday as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, with a British passport, the source said, adding that he would be transferred to Madrid to face an extradition process.
US federal prosecutors in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday unsealed an indictment against McAfee over charges that he evaded taxes and willfully failed to file returns.
Photo: AFP
That came after the US Securities and Exchange Commission said that it had brought civil charges against McAfee, alleging he made more than US$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.
Online court records do not show whether McAfee has a lawyer to speak on his behalf about the charges.
McAfee developed early Internet security software, and has been sought by authorities in the US and Belize in the past.
The federal indictment said that McAfee failed to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018, despite receiving “considerable income” from several sources.
The indictment does not allege that McAfee received any income or had any connection with the antivirus software company bearing his name during those years, prosecutors said.
McAfee evaded taxes by directing his income to be paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency accounts in the names of others, the indictment said.
McAfee hid assets from the US Internal Revenue Service — including real estate, a vehicle and a yacht — in the names of others, prosecutors said.
If convicted of all charges, McAfee could face up to 30 years in prison.
McAfee was released from detention in the Dominican Republic in July last year after he and five others were suspected of traveling on a yacht carrying high-caliber weapons, ammunition and military-style equipment, officials in the Caribbean Island said at the time.
Additional reporting by AP
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS