Anti-virus software millionaire John McAfee arrested in Guatemala
The anti-virus software millionaire John McAfee has been arrested by Guatemalan police for illegally entering the country, the interior minister, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, has said.
McAfee crossed into Guatemala to evade authorities in Belize who want to question him in connection with the murder of his neighbour. There is no international arrest warrant for McAfee.
McAfee declared himself a fugitive, changed his appearance and went on the run after claiming he was being set up by corrupt Belize officials for the murder.
McAfee made his millions as founder of the antivirus software company that bears his name. He sold the company in 1994 and then invested in other tech ventures before retiring to Belize in 2008.
Lopez Bonilla said Guatemala would seek to expel McAfee because he arrived illegally.
McAfee, 67, had been in hiding for three weeks. He crossed into Guatemala with his girlfriend to evade authorities in Belize who wanted to quiz him as "a person of interest" about the killing of fellow American
Gregory Faull.
"He entered the country illegally and we are going to seek his expulsion for this crime," Lopez Bonilla said. McAfee was detained by Guatemalan police and a member of Interpol at the Intercontinental hotel in Guatemala City.
Government spokesman Francisco Cuevas said McAfee would be expelled to Belize and he expected the process to be completed by early Thursday morning. McAfee's lawyer, Telesforo Guerra, said he would seek an injunction to have him released.
There is no international arrest warrant for McAfee. Police in Belize say he is not a prime suspect.
McAfee was taken to a residence belonging to the immigration department guarded by a small group of police. He had been seeking political asylum in Guatemala, which has been embroiled in a long-running territorial dispute with Belize.
One of Silicon Valley's first entrepreneurs to build an internet fortune, McAfee made millions of dollars through the internet antivirus software that still carries his name.
Residents and neighbours on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye, where McAfee has lived in Belize for about four years, say he is eccentric, impulsive, volatile and at times unstable, citing his love of guns and young women.
McAfee has said he believes authorities in Belize will kill him if he turns himself in for questioning. Belize's prime minister has denied this and called him paranoid and "bonkers".
There was already a case against McAfee in Belize for possession of illegal firearms, and police had previously raided his property on suspicion he was running a lab to make illegal synthetic narcotics.
McAfee says he has been persecuted by Belize's ruling party because he wouldn't pay out some $2 million to it.
No comments