John McAfee was the creator of the McAfee anti-virus software and helped start a multi billion dollar industry but he holds some unusual opinions (including that taxation is illegal) and has come to the interest of the Police in various countries over the years since he sold his company to Intel.

He was arrested in Spain over tax evasion charges and faces extradition to the US.

Prosecutors say he failed to file tax returns for four years, despite earning millions from consulting work, speaking engagements, crypto-currencies and selling the rights to his life story.

If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.

In a statement the US Justice Department said Mr McAfee allegedly evaded tax liability by having his income paid into bank accounts and cryptocurrency exchange accounts in the names of nominees. As a result, it is alleged, he failed to file any tax returns from 2014 to 2018.

He is also accused of concealing assets, including a yacht and real estate property, in the names of others.

The government regulator alleges that Mr McAfee made over $23m by “leveraging his fame” and recommending seven cryptocurrency offerings between 2017 and 2018, which allegedly turned out to be “essentially worthless”.

The SEC is seeking to impose a civil penalty on him, and remove any “allegedly ill-gotten gains”, with interest. It also wants to permanently ban him from serving as an officer or director of any listed company, or any company which files reports to the SEC.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.