Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee, the founder of McAfee Associates — the company that released the first commercial antivirus software, McAfee VirusScan, in the late 1980s, contributing to the birth of multibillion-dollar industry — was indicted on five counts of tax evasion and five counts of willful failure to file a tax return, which could result in a maximum sentence of 30 years if convicted. He could also expect to pay U.S. taxes and penalties, according to the United States Department of Justice. The DOJ’s charges were announced shortly after the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission revealed it had brought civil charges against McAfee related to cryptocurrency offerings.
McAfee has been a controversial figure in several countries, not only in the U.S. He went into "exile" after claiming he had been charged with using cryptocurrencies against the U.S. government, foolishly tweeting last year from a boat, boasting about the fact that he hadn’t filed any U.S. tax returns.