"Taxation is illegal"

October 6, 2020 8:13 AM

It looks like the law has finally caught up with the flashy, egocentric septuagenarian multi-millionaire who has spent the last few years trying to prop up his failing fortunes with a variety of business scams while paying no taxes for years and displaying increasingly bizarre, paranoid and narcissistic behaviour. ... No, not that one. This one.

McAfee has been arrested in Spain on tax evasion charges and faces extradition. He filed no tax returns from 2014 to 2018 and is alleged to have hidden assets, including income, property and a yacht, under the names of others.

Previously; previously.

posted by Cardinal Fang (34 comments total)

They really need to do a deep scan to make sure they check for everything.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:22 AM on October 6, 2020 [54 favorites]

Too bad there isn't a mugshot with a shit-eating grin. Or a shit-eating scowl. We'll have to settle for a still from an old video with a shit-eating normal face.
posted by tclark at 8:22 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

1 threat was found
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:23 AM on October 6, 2020 [51 favorites]

Meanwhile, Norton Ghost remains at large.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:26 AM on October 6, 2020 [7 favorites]

Let's not forget his greatest crime of all
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:33 AM on October 6, 2020 [41 favorites]

Christ, what an...
posted by Saxon Kane at 8:34 AM on October 6, 2020

I assume his yacht has dazzle camouflage
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:40 AM on October 6, 2020

Let's not forget his greatest crime of all

He's still wanted for murder in Belize, isn't he?
posted by Dysk at 8:44 AM on October 6, 2020 [11 favorites]

That afternoon, Belizean police arrive at McAfee's property to question him about Faull's death. McAfee sees them coming and is sure the authorities are intent on tormenting him again. He quickly digs a shallow trench in the sand and buries himself, pulling a cardboard box over his head. He stays there for hours.

"It was extraordinarily uncomfortable," he says.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:47 AM on October 6, 2020 [11 favorites]

He's still wanted for murder in Belize, isn't he?

Yes, he's been credibly accused of murdering two people when he was living in Belize, as well as sexually assaulting his former business partner. If tax evasion is how he goes down, well, it was good enough for Capone...
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:50 AM on October 6, 2020 [13 favorites]

He's still wanted for murder in Belize, isn't he?

Wanted for questioning as a person of interest, I think, but yes.
posted by jedicus at 8:51 AM on October 6, 2020

Footage
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:51 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Eventually, he popped up.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:56 AM on October 6, 2020 [5 favorites]

Typical McAfee, always running in the background
posted by lefty lucky cat at 9:08 AM on October 6, 2020 [47 favorites]

So does this abrogate his bet or what.
posted by jquinby at 9:18 AM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Last time he got detained by authorities, his wife was on Twitter boasting about how he could get out of that situation, no problem, with lawyers or bribery, as needed. I wonder if he still is thinking that this situation is more of that.
posted by thelonius at 9:25 AM on October 6, 2020

Man, to think the anti-virus software that bears his name is less awful than the man himself.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:28 AM on October 6, 2020 [3 favorites]

If he had only installed the toolbar, he would have been protected from this.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:44 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

McAfee is the virus.
(also true for the software)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:00 AM on October 6, 2020

Is 'disgorge' a term of art for the SEC? Because it's excellent.
posted by clew at 10:11 AM on October 6, 2020

Is 'disgorge' a term of art for the SEC? Because it's excellent.

Yep, totally. "Disgorgement" is one of the remedies in Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for compelling the return of ill-gotten gains.

It always makes me think of retrieving a hook from a fish that's swallowed it, a process that involves long needle-nosed pliers. Sadly, the SEC just uses forms and lawyers and courts and things like that.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:21 AM on October 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

I'm noting that you can accumulate the SEC's equivalent of eleven stars in Grand Theft Auto and get off with civil penalties.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:53 AM on October 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Man, to think the anti-virus software that bears his name is less awful than the man himself.

Haven't they renamed it by now?

Also, did ReiserFS get renamed after its creator/namesake was convicted of murdering his wife, or did everyone just stop using it and let it die?
posted by acb at 11:36 AM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Also, did ReiserFS get renamed after its creator/namesake was convicted of murdering his wife, or did everyone just stop using it and let it die?

Neither, it's still being maintained (albeit without any corporate backing) under the original name.
posted by Dysk at 11:39 AM on October 6, 2020

I'm noting that you can accumulate the SEC's equivalent of eleven stars in Grand Theft Auto and get off with civil penalties.

The SEC itself does not have criminal enforcement authority. It can refer matters to state and federal prosecutors, and also works closely with law enforcement agencies like the FBI.
posted by star gentle uterus at 11:41 AM on October 6, 2020

Yeah, taxation is so illegal it’s in Article 1 of the Constitution.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:03 PM on October 6, 2020 [10 favorites]

Why do I have a Warren Zevon song running through my head?
posted by rpfields at 12:52 PM on October 6, 2020 [8 favorites]

Possibly a believer in tax-resister arguments about the "unapportioned" income tax, etc.
posted by thelonius at 12:55 PM on October 6, 2020

Also previously. This is one of those occasional wonderful Metafilter comments that makes me not only laugh out loud, but remember it well enough years later to include it here.
posted by Melismata at 12:58 PM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

I'm pretty sure John McAfee is mentally unwell. Possibly this is either caused, or at least exacerbated, by his use of illegal drugs. But regardless of cause his mind is not working properly. That was obvious several years ago when he first started ranting incoherently after he killed Gregory Faull.
posted by sotonohito at 2:29 PM on October 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

Amateur. The trick is to get foreign citizenship In Belize and then have the Belizean government appoint you as a consul back to the US. So you get to have diplomatic immunity, and live in the US in your old house which is now a diplomatic residence....
(didn't work in that case but you have to admire the hustle)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 3:08 PM on October 6, 2020 [8 favorites]

Yeah, but then you've got Mel Gibson and Danny Glover on your ass, and that's a whole thing...
posted by Saxon Kane at 4:42 PM on October 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

Thank you, sotonohito, I was wondering if anyone else was seeing the obvious strung out stimulant misuser I was!
posted by flamk at 10:47 PM on October 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah TClark there was a documentary on Netflix that said MacAfee indulged in Coprophagia (shit eating) with Belize prostitutes.
For a change I know what people are alluding too on Metafilter.
posted by Narrative_Historian at 1:54 AM on October 8, 2020