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Roger Ver, an early investor in Bitcoin, has been arrested and charged with mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges, revealing that Ver allegedly concealed Bitcoin ownership from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), leading to an estimated loss of $48 million.
The indictment, recently unsealed, outlines three charges against Ver, who was arrested in Spain over the weekend with potential extradition to the United States. According to the DOJ statement, Ver’s alleged actions include concealing Bitcoin ownership and profiting from the sale of tens of thousands of Bitcoins on cryptocurrency exchanges for approximately $240 million in cash in November 2017.
Despite not being a U.S. citizen at the time, Ver was legally obligated to report certain distributions, such as dividends from U.S. corporations MemoryDealers and Agilestar, where he held ownership interests. However, he allegedly failed to disclose these distributions to the IRS, resulting in his 2017 tax return not reporting any gain or paying tax related to the distributions.
Furthermore, Ver is accused of using legal services to prepare and file false tax returns, undervaluing the two companies, concealing their Bitcoin holdings of 73,000 BTC, and omitting his personal Bitcoin ownership.
Ver, who renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014 after reportedly gaining citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis, had previously been a resident of Santa Clara, California. Known online as “Bitcoin Jesus,” Ver was the former CEO of Bitcoin.com, a digital wallet developer.
The arrest and charges against Roger Ver underscore the increasing scrutiny faced by individuals in the cryptocurrency space regarding tax compliance and financial transparency.
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