Roger Ver, a prominent early Bitcoin investor known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has been indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. . Mr. Ver was arrested in Spain over the weekend on these criminal charges, and the United States intends to seek his extradition to stand trial.
Just in: 🇺🇸U.S. Department of Justice makes early arrest #bitcoin Investor Roger Ver charged with tax evasion pic.twitter.com/KdShrow0PS
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 30, 2024
According to the indictment, Barr, formerly of Santa Clara, California, owned and operated MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., which sell computer and networking equipment. In 2011, Mr. Ver allegedly began acquiring Bitcoins for himself and his company, and by 2014 he had amassed a large amount of Bitcoins, totaling approximately 131,000 Bitcoins worth approximately $240 million. is said to have been acquired.
Barr then became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014, and shortly thereafter renounced her U.S. citizenship in a process known as deportation. This action made him subject to U.S. tax laws, including reporting capital gains from the sale of assets around the world, including Bitcoin, and paying an “exit tax” on those gains.
of indictment The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Ver provided false or misleading information to law firms and appraisers to conceal the true number of Bitcoins he and his company owned. The result was the preparation and filing of false tax returns that significantly undervalued the company and its Bitcoin holdings.
By 2017, Ver’s company still held about 70,000 bitcoins, which he reportedly sold on cryptocurrency exchanges for about $240 million. Although Barr was not a U.S. citizen at the time, he still had a legal obligation to report to the IRS and pay taxes on certain distributions, but he failed to do so, causing an estimated loss to the IRS of more than $48 million. The indictment states that he gave.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada announced the charges, and the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Cyber Crimes Division handled the case. An indictment is an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
