Roger Ver Indicted for Tax Fraud

Over the weekend in Spain, Ver was taken into custody as per a statement. The plan is to pursue his extradition back to the United States.

As a crypto investor, I’ve been following the news about Bitcoin evangelist, Ver, who goes by the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus.” Sadly, he’s now facing allegations for not complying with tax laws. Specifically, it’s claimed that after relinquishing his American citizenship and establishing businesses in St. Kitts and Nevis, he neglected to file tax returns on the sales of his assets or pay capital gains taxes upon exiting the United States.

In November 2017, Ver reportedly disposed of approximately forty thousand Bitcoins, generating around $240 million in revenue according to the DOJ’s allegations. Despite not holding US citizenship at the time, Ver was mandated by law to report these transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and pay taxes on certain distributions derived from MemoryDealers and Agilestar, both of which were based in the United States.

The government claimed that Ver failed to disclose to his accountant that he had acquired and disposed of Bitcoins belonging to MemoryDealers and Agilestar during that year. Consequently, these transactions were not reflected in Ver’s 2017 tax return, resulting in no reported gain or paid taxes for the distribution of those Bitcoins to him.

Ver has previously pleaded guilty and served time for selling explosives.