‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver Faces Arrest and Accusations on $50M Tax Evasion

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering charging Roger Ver, popularly known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” with tax evasion linked to his Bitcoin holdings.

According to the indictment, Ver has been using two companies and his own money to purchase Bitcoin and promote it since 2011. Even after he became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014 and renounced his U.S. citizenship, Ver is accused of not filing tax returns for capital gains from his Bitcoin holdings, which included around 73,000 bitcoins through his companies and about 131,000 bitcoins personally.

Unpaid Taxes and Concealed Accounts

Ver allegedly sold thousands of bitcoins in 2017 for almost $240 million, according to DOJ investigators, but neglected to pay the obligatory exit tax and capital gains. Ver is also accused of hiding his accounts from the IRS and stealing money from the sales of Bitcoin, which left him with a tax debt of more than $48 million.

After Ver was apprehended in Europe, the US government intends to extradite him so that he might face tax fraud charges. For his purported acts, Ver now risks severe legal repercussions, notwithstanding his prominent status as a Bitcoin enthusiast and the former CEO of Bitcoin.com.

The case highlights how crucial it is to abide by tax regulations in the quickly changing cryptocurrency ecosystem as it develops.