The Spanish high court has authorised the extradition of John McAfee, an antivirus software creator, to the US where he faces tax evasion charges, a court document released on Wednesday showed.
McAfee, 75, who was arrested at Barcelona airport in October 2020, said during an extradition hearing this month that the accusations against him were politically motivated. He can still appeal against the court’s extradition authorisation.
He has linked the charges filed by the Internal Revenue Service to his failed bid to run as a Libertarian Party candidate in the 2020 US presidential election, a second such attempt.
The Spanish prosecutor, Carlos Bautista, said McAfee was just a tax dodger and dismissed the accusation of a political motivation, insisting the Libertarian Party rarely gains more than 1% of votes in US elections.
US federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment in October against McAfee over charges that he evaded taxes and wilfully failed to file returns.
That came shortly after the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it had brought civil charges against McAfee, alleging he made over US$23.1-million in undisclosed income from false and misleading cryptocurrency recommendations.
The Spanish court authorised the extradition but only to face charges related to his tax returns for 2016, 2017 and 2018 as the prosecution had asked. — Reported by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo, (c) 2021 Reuters