US DOJ Arrests ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver for $50M Tax Evasion

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged and arrested Roger Ver, an early BTC investor known as Bitcoin Jesus, for evading taxes of up to $50 million.

According to an official release, the DOJ unsealed the indictment against Ver on April 29 and ordered his arrest in Spain during the weekend.

U.S. DOJ Charges Ver for Tax Evasion

The DOJ’s indictment accused Ver of filing false tax returns, committing mail fraud and tax evasion between 2011 and 2017 through his computer and networking equipment companies MemoryDealers Inc. and Agilestar Inc.

Ver began purchasing thousands of bitcoins (BTC) for himself and his firms in 2011. At the same time, he became known for promoting BTC, earning the alias Bitcoin Jesus.

By February 2014, Ver and his companies had acquired roughly 131,000 BTC that traded on several crypto exchanges for approximately $871 each. Around 73,000 BTC from the stash allegedly belonged to MemoryDealers and Agilestar, while the rest were for Ver.

In the same year, Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship via expatriation and obtained one in the Caribbean country St. Kitts and Nevis. The DOJ said Ver’s expatriation required him to file tax returns that reported capital gains from the sale of his assets, including the bitcoins he owned. In addition, Ver was to report the fair market value of his assets and pay an exit tax on his capital gains.

However, Ver allegedly provided U.S. authorities with misleading information, concealing the number of bitcoins he owned.

Ver to Be Extradited to the U.S.

Bitcoin Jesus hired an unnamed law firm to handle his expatriation and related tax reports alongside an appraiser to value MemoryDealers and Agilestar. He allegedly aided the law firm and appraiser in filing false tax returns that significantly undervalued his companies. There was also no report that Ver owned any bitcoins of his own.

Additionally, Ver allegedly took possession of 70,000 BTC owned by his companies in 2017 and sold a large part of them for roughly $240 million in cash. Despite not being a U.S. citizen, the DOJ said Ver was obligated to report the transactions to the Internal Revenue Service and pay tax on his companies’ dividends since they were still U.S. corporations. However, Ver did the opposite and failed to report his gains to his accountant too.

The U.S. government will soon commence the process of Ver’s extradition to the U.S. to face trial for the allegations against him.