Roger Ver, a veteran Bitcoin investor nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus” and founder of Bitcoin.com, has been indicted on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion and false tax returns. Ver is accused of hiding a huge Bitcoin treasure, amounting to 131,000 Bitcoin (worth about 7.5 billion USD at current value), and evading taxes on at least 48 million USD.
According to the indictment from the US Department of Justice, Ver, who once resided in Santa Clara, California and owned the companies MemoryDealers.com and Agilestar.com, began accumulating Bitcoin since 2011. In 2014, when each Bitcoin worth about 871 USD, Ver renounced his American citizenship and became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis. However, he is still obliged to declare and pay taxes on profits from the sale of US-origin assets, including Bitcoin.
The indictment accuses Ver of providing false information to law firms and appraisers, concealing the true amount of Bitcoins that he and his companies owned. This action resulted in the filing of false tax returns, significantly underestimating the value of the assets of Ver. Just his two companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar, held about 73,000 Bitcoins, equivalent to about $4.2 billion at current value.
By 2017, when Bitcoin's value skyrocketed, Ver is said to have sold tens of thousands of Bitcoin, earning about $240 million, but did not declare it to the IRS. He was arrested in Spain last week and is awaiting extradition to the US to face charges of tax evasion and fraud of up to $48 million.
