Before John McAfee can be extradited, his lawyers will have the option to appeal the jury’s ruling, and local lawmakers will have to accept it.
The founder of the antivirus software corporation of the same name, John McAfee, is a step closer to facing tax evasion charges in the United States.
The Spanish National Court approved McAfee’s extradition to the United States in a ruling issued on Wednesday. His legal team will be able to appeal the court’s ruling.
Moreover, the extradition must be authorized by Spain’s Council of Ministers before it can be completed.
McAfee’s extradition has been ordered by the US government on grounds of failing to file tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and reportedly failing to declare revenue from “promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements, and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.”
The Spanish court verdict, however, only applies to tax evasion allegations from 2016 to 2018.
McAfee has initially claimed that the charges filed by US officials are politically driven, claiming that as a Libertarian Party candidate in the United States, he would “target the IRS and its corruption.”
The tax evasion allegations may land the 75-year-old in behind bars for the rest of his life if he is found guilty and given the maximum penalty.
McAfee had a net worth of more than $100 million at one point, mainly due to his antivirus software company.
He claimed last week, however, that he no longer owns any cryptocurrency because it had “dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee” or been seized by authorities.
He has been detained in Spain following his arrest at Barcelona’s international airport in October 2020. He does, however, have access to Twitter and routinely updates his followers on his condition as well as his thoughts on the legitimacy of his predicament.