- The early Bitcoin investor was arrested in Spain this weekend for alleged tax evasion in the United States
- This is the second time Ver has been arrested by US authorities
Just as the crypto world is considering the fate of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, the US Department of Justice has announced charges against another prominent crypto player. The person under the DoJ’s radar is Roger Ver, aka Bitcoin Jesus, who got his nickname because he was an early Bitcoin investor.
The US DoJ has alleged that Ver “evaded nearly $50 million in taxes.” According to A., the charges against him led to his arrest in Spain this weekend press release. Furthermore, it was also stated that authorities will seek his “extradition to face trial in the United States.”
The Case Against ‘Bitcoin Jesus’
In the press release, authorities alleged that the tax evasion occurred when Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship in favor of St. Kitts and Nevis citizenship.
Before the citizenship swap, Ver owned two companies in the US: MemoryDealers.com and Agilestar.com, which sold computer and networking equipment. And Ver had bought Bitcoins for himself and under the names of these two companies in 2011. As of February 2014, the total number of Bitcoins owned by Ver and his companies was almost 131,0000 BTC, and the companies alone accounted for 73,000 Bitcoins. of those BTCs.
Notably, under US law, expats are required to “file tax returns reporting capital gains from the constructive sale of its global assets, including Bitcoin.” In addition, he had to “report the fair market value of his assets” and “pay a tax – a so-called exit tax – on those capital gains.”
And the US Department of Justice claims Ver played foul here. The Ministry of Justice said:
“Ver allegedly provided or caused to be provided false or misleading information to the law firm and the appraiser, which concealed the actual number of bitcoins he and his companies owned. As a result, the law firm allegedly prepared and filed false tax returns that significantly undervalued the two companies and their 73,000 bitcoins and failed to report that Ver personally owned bitcoins.
Furthermore, the US authority alleged that Ver sold most of the companies’ BTCs for nearly $240 million in cash in November 2017. This was the same timeline when Bitcoin made international headlines for breaking records and the coin reached an all-time high of $20,000. next month.
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On the sale, the DoJ alleged that Ver had failed “to report to the IRS and pay taxes on certain distributions, such as dividends from MemoryDealers and Agilestar, which were U.S. corporations.” The press release further said:
“Ver allegedly concealed from his accountant that he had received and sold Bitcoins from MemoryDealers and Agilestar that year. As a result, Ver did not report any profits on his 2017 individual income tax return nor did he pay any taxes related to the distribution of MemoryDealers and Agilestar’s bitcoins to him.”
Notably, this wouldn’t be de Ver’s first foray with U.S. authorities. In 2002, the early Bitcoin investor served 10 months in federal prison in the United States. Ver was convicted of illegally selling harmful substances via eBay between January 1999 and August 2000.