- Early Bitcoin adopter Roger Ver faces criminal charges of tax evasion and mail fraud in the US
- The IRS alleges that Ver skipped around $48 million in taxes by underreporting Bitcoin sales
- Ver was arrested in Spain yesterday on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns, with extradition proceedings underway
Early Bitcoin adopter Roger Ver, once touted as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ due to his evangelism of the cryptocurrency in its early days, has been charged with tax evasion to the tune of $48 million by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS alleges that Ver took hundreds of thousands of bitcoins out of the country through his companies when he renounced his US citizenship in 2014 and underreported his personal and company holdings in future tax filings. As a result, Ver was yesterday arrested in Spain on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns, with the US preparing extradition.
Ver Gave Up US Citizenship in 2014
According to the indictment lodged with the United States District Court For The Central District Of California, Ver engaged in a scheme to deceive his law firm and an appraiser by providing false or misleading information, leading to the undervaluation of his companies and the bitcoins they held. Consequently, inaccurate tax returns were filed, omitting crucial details about Ver’s bitcoin ownership and resulting in significant underreporting of taxable income.
Ver gave up his US citizenship in February 2014, swapping it for St Kitts and St Nevis, but allegedly continued to own substantial bitcoin holdings through his companies; in November 2017, it is alleged that he sold tens of thousands of bitcoins for approximately $240 million without disclosing the transactions or paying taxes to the IRS.
Furthermore, authorities claim that Ver concealed from his accountant the receipt and sale of bitcoins owned by his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar, which were US-based corporations, thus evading tax obligations on dividends received.
$48 Million Loss to IRS
The indictment suggests that Ver’s actions resulted in a substantial loss to the IRS, estimated to be at least $48 million, underscoring the severity of the allegations against him. Ver was arrested in Spain yesterday and will be the subject of an extradition request to face criminal charges in the US.
Ver has previously pleaded guilty and served time for selling explosives on eBay and one of his companies, MemoryDealers, had ties with the laundering of the hundreds of thousands of bitcoins stolen from MtGox.
