McAfee John (John McAfee)

McAfee John (John McAfee)

Biography

John McAfee was one of the first to develop virus control software.

1989: Creation and sale of the company McAfee

In 1989, he created McAfee Associates, the sale of a stake in which subsequently brought him $100 million.

In 1994, McAfee finally left the company after allegations that he allegedly intimidated Michelangelo users to buy his products more often.

2009: Loss of fortune, move to Belize

In 2009, Makafi said that his multimillion-dollar fortune fell to four million dollars due to unsuccessful investments during the crisis. After that, he decided to move to Belize, where life is much cheaper than in the USA.

By this time, Makafi had not been engaged in computer security for a long time, thanks to which he had once earned a huge fortune. At this time, his name in the press increasingly surfaced in connection with drugs, illegal weapons and prostitution.

In 2009, when Makafi first moved to Belize, he initially had grandiose plans: he opened a laboratory where he developed a new type of herbal medicine, and promised to save Belize from poverty. However, it quickly became clear that the idea with pharmaceuticals did not justify itself, and the inhabitants of Belize could not be done richer. Meanwhile, Makafi, who also managed to try heavy drugs in America, after moving to the so-called "bath salts," which are sometimes called legal heroin. In Belize, unlike the United States, these substances are not prohibited, so it was easy to get them.

And before that, judging by the reviews of local residents, no one especially complained, and over time, when he began to completely abuse drugs, they simply began to fear him. They say that he was walking around the beach with a gun. Fall's wife, having learned about the death of her husband, was generally surprised that Makafi still lived in the neighborhood. According to her, many could not tolerate him for a long time. Meanwhile, a few days before his death, Fall wrote a statement to the police in which he complained that the former programmer was shooting a gun at the site.

The creator of the antivirus admitted that he contacted local gangsters and drug dealers. In an interview, he claimed that one of the bandits was going to kill him, but he managed to negotiate peacefully with him. Makafi did not spread about the details of the deal.

2011: Intel buys back McAfee for $7.68 billion

In 2011, Intel bought out McAfee for $7.68 billion and turned it into its subsidiary. By this time, McAfee was already steadily occupying the second largest share of the antivirus software market (after Symantec).

In 2014, it became known that the division is renamed Intel Security, although the word McAfee has been preserved in the product names.

2012: Arrest in Guatemala and extradition to the United States

In April 2012, searches were carried out in Makafi's house - he was suspected of illegal possession of weapons and the manufacture of drugs. Then the police seized from the programmer 20 thousand dollars in cash and a whole arsenal of weapons: seven pump guns, pistols and hundreds of rounds. However, in the end, all the charges were dropped from him: he had permission for a weapon, and there were no drugs in the chemical laboratory. Makafi himself then resented the behavior of the police, who, according to him, kept him bound for several hours without water and food and shot his dog. He claimed that he was raided because he refused financial assistance to a local politician.

On November 13, 2012, it became known that Belize police put John McAfee on the wanted list. They want to interrogate him in connection with the murder of his neighbor - American Gregory Vaent Fall, who was found dead in his own house on November 11, 2012. Makafi, meanwhile, managed to escape, afraid that the police would arrest him as the main suspect. He himself contacted the press and stated that he was innocent, and the killers actually came for him, but confused at home.

The murdered 52-year-old Gregory Viant Faull worked as an engineer in Florida and has long owned a house in Belize - in the town of San Pedro on the island of Ambergris Caye. Like many Americans, he moved there for good soon after he retired. On the morning of Sunday, November 11, a housekeeper found him killed. Fall lay in a pool of blood face up. Apparently, the offender shot him in the back of the head. The police who arrived at the scene did not find traces of hacking. Of the items, only Fall's laptop and his iPhone were stolen.

Locals spoke well of Gregory Fall, he had conflicts, perhaps, only with his neighbor - John McAfee. However, in the United States, the reputation of the deceased was not so impeccable: he was arrested more than once for domestic violence, and the last time - in 2009. Belize police wanted to question McAfee first, but he was not at home. No charges have yet been brought against him, it is officially claimed that he, like other neighbors, simply wants to talk to him. According to the police, there are no accused in this case at all, but there are suspects, and one of them is already in custody. But, apparently, Makafi himself does not believe that he is considered innocent, otherwise why would he hide.

Wired magazine managed to get in touch with Makafi, and he immediately stated that he had nothing to do with the murder. About how this happened, he allegedly knows nothing either. Makafi suggested that in fact the target of the killers was himself, but they confused the houses and accidentally ended up in Fall's house.

According to the programmer, when the police came to interrogate him, he was in the house, but hid under a cardboard box. Makafi is sure that as soon as he is found, he will be killed immediately. Moreover, it is not clear who he fears more - either the very people who allegedly shot Fall in his place, or the police. Makafi claims that a few days ago, the authorities sent some people to poison his dogs. Earlier, it was Gregory Fall who complained about their barking to the police, but Makafi believes that he himself would not have thought of such a thing. In a telephone conversation with reporters, the programmer accused the country's leadership of corruption and authoritarianism.

However, despite all his fears, Makafi was not going to flee Belize and return to the United States.

On 4 December 2012, Makafi's lawyers reported that their client had arrived in Guatemala a few days earlier from Belize and had asked the authorities to grant him asylum.

On December 5, 2012, it became known that John McAfee, who is wanted by the Belize police, was arrested in Guatemala. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Guatemala announced that John Macafi was detained for illegally crossing the border, the issue of his expulsion from the country is being considered. Belize Makafi's law enforcement agencies were not put on the international wanted list.

On December 12, 2012, the Guatemalan migration service, to which Makafi fled from the Belize authorities, where he is suspected of murder, decided to extradite him to his country of origin (USA). Prior to this, the Guatemalan government refused to grant political asylum to 67-year-old Makafi and was going to extradite him to Belize.

On the same day, an American Airlines airliner, aboard which the creator of computer antivirus McAfee John McAfee flew from Guatemala to the United States, landed at Miami International Airport in Florida.

According to the agency, the plane with Makafi landed in Miami at about 19.00 Wednesday local time (4.00 Thursday Moscow time). According to Chin, after passing passport control and customs, Makafi will be taken by representatives of the American authorities. The appearance of a computer scientist in public at the airport terminal, according to Chin, is not planned^[1].

2016: Attempt to return to business, trial with Intel

In the spring of 2016, Makafi announced his intention to return to the information security business. In May, he headed the investment firm MGT Capital Investments, and soon after it became known that MGT was planned to be renamed John McAfee Global Technologies. The new company will have to deal with cybersecurity issues.

In June the Intel company warned MGT about possible prosecution if its name the McAfee trademark appears ", or the name McAfee some will be used otherwise as a trademark". According to Intel, John McAfee does not have the right to use the McAfee name to promote information security products and services.

In September 2016, Intel announced the signing of an agreement with investment company TGP Capital, under which Intel Security stands out as a separate commercial structure - again called McAfee. Intel will retain a 49 percent stake in the business of the new company, the rest will control TGP.

In December 2016, it became known that John McAfee filed a lawsuit demanding that Intel be prohibited from forming a new commercial structure using the McAfee brand. The ban will have to remain valid until McAfee and Intel resolve the dispute over the delimitation of John McAfee's brand and own name in the summer.

Makafi believes that he has the right to use his civilian name at his own discretion. MGT and McAfee filed a lawsuit in New York court seeking to recognize that the use of John McAfee's own name or McAfee's last name for business purposes is not an attempt on an Intel-owned trademark.

According to John McAfee and MGT Capital Investments in their lawsuit, there is every reason to assume that Intel plans to sell or transfer the rights to use the full name of McAfee to the new company. McAfee demands that Intel prohibit any manipulation of the word McAfee until the dispute is fully resolved.

The situation is really very ambiguous, "comments Dmitry Gvozdev, general director of Security Monitor. - Intel bought out McAfee, Inc., so that both its technology and brand McAfee enter the information security market . Apparently, commercial expectations have not been met, and now Intel is again allocating McAfee to a separate structure, selling half of its share to a third-party investor. But the McAfee brand for Intel still has enough value to try to prevent John McAfee from using his own name for commercial purposes. Suspicions that Makafi indirectly encroaches on the brand, he himself when created, cannot be called completely baseless.

The court has to find out under what conditions McAfee sold his stake in McAfee Associates in the mid-1990s and whether he really does not have the right to use his last name to promote new products and services in the IB industry, according to Intel lawyers.

Makafi himself claims that he never transferred the rights in his name to anyone and never agreed in any way to limit his use for business purposes.

2018: Attempted poisoning and conflict with SEC

John McAfee in a hospital bed

In June 2018, John McAfee was assassinated. As he himself said on the social network Twitter, unknown people managed to poison something that Makafi took inside. As a result, the developer spent two days unconscious at Vidant Medical Center in North Carolina, USA.

Having recovered, Makafi apologized on Twitter for his absence, which lasted a total of three days. The entrepreneur also posted evidence of his stay in the hospital - several photos in which he was captured unconscious in a hospital bed, wrapped with wires.

"It's harder to kill me than anyone can imagine. I'm back, "said Makafi.

He said that, contrary to the instructions of the doctors, he intends to leave the hospital.

When asked by one of the subscribers which poisonous substance was used, Makafi replied:

«It doesn't matter. They assumed that it would not be revealed. "

He added that everything he says thinks, does, and in general everything that happens to him is recorded 24 hours a day.

On Twitter, McAfee wrote that he knows who attacked his life.

"And to those who did - you will soon understand what real anger means. I know exactly who you are. You better disappear. "

He also called his enemies "incompetent" and posted a photo in which he shows them with his wife an indecent gesture.

John McAfee and his wife show an indecent gesture to unsuccessful poisoners

The Independent reported that after Makafi fled his home in Belize in 2012, criminal cartels are hunting him there. The cybersecurity pioneer claims that before leaving the country, he obtained hacking documents that shed light on the connection of the Belize government with organized crime. McAfee's Belize home later burned down under circumstances he calls suspicious, Fox News reports.

Fearing for his life, McAfee is forced to live in a well-fortified house in Lexington, Tennessee, USA. As he himself stated in an interview with Men's Journal, signs of the presence of outsiders are periodically found in plantations near the house.

In 2017, McAfee told Newsweek that he heard someone break into the house, and this forced the developer to fire several pistol shots at the walls. Then Makafi admitted that he "eats, sleeps and takes a shower with a gun in his hand," and also walks around his house, stuffed with security, accompanied by two German shepherds and one pit bull^[2].

However, the hospital in which Makafi ended up after the poisoning is 966 km from Lexington. Explaining how he got so far from home, Makafi said he was forced to go on the run due to troubles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 2016, due to the developer's connection with various cryptocurrency projects, the SEC sent him a subpoena. As Makafi said a month ago, he does not intend to accept any more such subpoenas, which caused his departure from home. At the same time, he moved in a convoy of five cars driven by former special forces, accompanied by a large number of heavily armed guards.

2019: John McAfee simulated a stroke to avoid deportation to the United States

In mid-August 2019, programmer and founder of antivirus developer McAfee John McAfee told how he had to simulate a stroke in order to avoid deportation to the United States from the Dominican Republic.

A senior Cuban army officer advised John Macafee, who had been hiding from taxes for several years, to flee Havana so that he would not be caught by the US authorities. However, when Makafi and his wife went on their yacht to the Dominican Republic, they were met by soldiers. They took the couple's property, including $100 000 in cash, and threw it into the cells.

John McAfee simulated stroke to avoid deportation to the United States

Makafi and his escorts were charged with undeclared transportation of automatic weapons, however, Makafi claims that they were not even given the opportunity to contact customs to legally issue weapons. Having heard such accusations, the businessman assured that all this was adjusted. Makafi and his wife were held in a cell for three days, and then reported for immediate extradition to the United States, where the businessman faces a term for non-payment of taxes in the amount of millions of dollars. Hearing this, Makafi took out a British passport from his secret pocket and stated that as a British citizen, he wanted to go home.

The guards allowed Makafi to contact the lawyers and they asked for a couple of hours for the proceedings. Then Makafi decided to use a backup plan, about which he warned his wife in advance - portrayed a stroke. He fell to the floor in convulsions so that the guards took him to the hospital, and there he depicted a loss of memory: he did not recognize his wife and pretended that he did not know his own name. About two hours later, McAfee's lawyers approached, and he suddenly got much better. The Dominican Customs Service was forced to send Macafee and his wife to the UK.^[3]

2020: Arrest on charges of tax evasion

In early October 2020, a Spanish court arrested John Macafee on charges of tax evasion. The founder of the IB company McAfee taken into custody without the right to go on bail.

On October 5, 2020, in the United States, the federal prosecutor's office of the Western District of Tennessee published an indictment against McAfee, which was prepared back in June 2020.

According to prosecutors, from 2014 to 2018, the businessman received millions of dollars, thanks to cryptocurrency operations, for consulting and for paid speeches, but did not submit tax returns. The agency notes that Makafi hid the presence of some assets, part of the funds went to accounts that were not registered in his name. It is emphasized that the activities in question do not concern the company McAfee. It is alleged that Makafi registered all acquisitions of movable and immovable property with other people.

Founder of McAfee arrested for non-payment of taxes on income of millions of dollars

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also charged McAfee with promoting tokens distributed under the initial coin placement (ICO) model without disclosing information about the remuneration received for these services. According to the SEC, McAfee received over $11.6 million in bitcoins and broadcasts for promoting seven ICO campaigns in 2017-2018.

The commission requires the programmer to return illegally earned funds, prepares fines and a ban on participating in the sale of digital securities.

John McAfee faces extradition to the States. In addition, an entrepreneur can be imprisoned for up to 5 years on each count of tax evasion. He can receive an additional one-year term for items related to the non-submission of tax returns. In addition, the businessman wanted to force to pay compensation. ^[4]

2021

Death in a Spanish prison

The creator of antivirus McAfee, programmer and businessman John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison in June 2021. He was 75 years old (see at what age famous people died).

It became known that a court in Spain approved the extradition of Makafi to the American authorities, who accused him of tax evasion. He was arrested in Europe at the request of the American prosecutor's office. Makafi lost the extradition case and was found dead just the next day. The preliminary version is suicide (John allegedly hanged himself). However, back in 2020, Makafi tweeted to his folowers that if he was found hanged "a la ^[5] are not his work.

Makafi faced 30 years in prison. He claimed that the charges against him were "political in nature" and were related to the fact that he was "against corruption in the US tax authorities."

Autopsy confirmed John McAfee's suicide, he hanged himself

At the end of June 2021, it became known that the founder of the antivirus development company software McAfee John McAfee committed suicide. This is evidenced by the autopsy results and a suicide note found in the programmer's pocket.

According to Business Insider, John McAfee locked himself in his cell about two hours before his body was found. Initially, the police considered the incident as suicide. According to País, citing sources, prison staff found the entrepreneur hanged.

McCafy's lawyer Javier Villalba noted in an interview with Reuters that on the day of his death, Makafi was driven to despair by the news that he should be extradited to the United States, where he will be charged with tax evasion. However, Villalba also told the news agency that there were no signs that he would commit suicide.

Autopsy confirmed the suicide of John McAfee, who in a tweet promised never to kill himself

A few days after the death of her husband, Makafi Janice told the media that he was not going to commit suicide, and said that she answered a call from her husband on the day of his death, he promised to talk to her later that night.

Before the autopsy results appeared, the Makafi family had already requested a second autopsy, according to El País. Many assumptions appeared on the network, especially among QAnon supporters, regarding the true causes of McAfee's death, in particular, a programmer's tweet is being discussed, in which he said that he would never kill himself.

A few months ago, before his death, at the beginning of his arrest, Makafi wrote on Twitter:

I'm fine here. I have friends. The food is good. Everything is ok. Know that if I hang like Epstein, it won't be my fault.

The Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia also reported, citing sources familiar with the incident, that Makafi was hospitalized in February 2021 after self-harm in his cell. The regional Ministry of Justice did not confirm this to the newspaper, citing the confidentiality of the patient's data.^[6]

Notes