Case details: 'Bitcoin Jesus” Roger Ver was arrested on suspicion of tax evasion and will be extradited to the United States

On April 30, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a document stating that Roger Ver (Bitcoin Jesus) evaded nearly $50 million in taxes and was charged with mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. He was arrested in Spain over the weekend and the United States is seeking his extradition to the United States to face trial.

Roger Ver is an early evangelist of Bitcoin and an important supporter of BCH. He is also an early investor in Bitcoin startups such as Bitcoin.com, Blockchain.com, and CoinFLEX. However, in recent years, Roger Ver has frequently Financial disputes with Matrixport, CoinFLEX, Genesis and others.

The following is the full text of the press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice:

Original link:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/early-bitcoin- investor-charged-tax-fraud

An indictment was unsealed yesterday, charging early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver with communications fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns. Ver was arrested in Spain over the weekend on U.S. criminal charges. The United States will seek Ver's extradition back to the United States to face trial.

According to the indictment, Ver, who formerly lived in Santa Clara, Calif., owned MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., two companies that sold computers and networking equipment. Beginning in 2011, Ver allegedly purchased Bitcoin for himself and his company. He also enthusiastically promoted Bitcoin, even earning the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus.”

On February 4, 2014, Ver allegedly obtained citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis and soon after renounced his U.S. citizenship through a process known as expatriation. After moving abroad, U.S. law allegedly required Ver to file tax returns, report capital gains from constructive sales of his assets worldwide, including Bitcoin, and report the fair market value of his assets. He also allegedly had to pay a tax known as an "exit tax" on those capital gains. As of February 4, 2014, Ver and his company allegedly owned approximately 131,000 Bitcoins, which were trading at approximately $871 each on several major exchanges. MemoryDealers and Agilestar allegedly own approximately 73,000 of these Bitcoins.

Ver allegedly hired a law firm to help him handle the renunciation of citizenship and prepare tax returns related to it. Ver also hired an appraiser to value his two businesses. Ver provided false or misleading information to law firms and appraisers, concealing the true number of Bitcoins owned by him and his company. As a result, the law firm allegedly prepared and filed false tax returns that grossly understated the value of the two companies and their 73,000 Bitcoins, and failed to report any Bitcoin that Ver personally owned.

The indictment further alleges that as of June 2017, Ver's two companies still held approximately 70,000 bitcoins. Around that time, Ver allegedly took ownership of the bitcoins and sold tens of thousands of them on cryptocurrency exchanges in November 2017, netting approximately $240 million in cash. Although Ver was no longer a U.S. citizen at the time, he was still legally obligated to report to the IRS and pay taxes on certain distributions, such as dividends from MemoryDealers and Agilestar, which are U.S. corporations. Ver allegedly concealed from his accountant the fact that he received and sold Bitcoins from MemoryDealers and Agilestar that year. As a result, Ver’s 2017 personal income tax filing did not report any gains or taxes related to MemoryDealers and Agilestar’s Bitcoin distributions.

Ver is said to have cost the IRS at least $48 million.

The announcement was made by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada of the Central District of California.

The IRS Criminal Investigation Division’s Cyber ​​Crime Team is investigating the case.

Assistant Commissioner Matthew J. Kluge and trial attorney Peter J. Anthony of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney James C. Hughes of the Central District of California, are prosecuting the case.

The indictment is only an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Financial Disputes

Earlier during the extreme market volatility that occurred after the Terra crash in the first half of 2022, Roger Ver's margin trading account suffered heavy losses and CoinFLEX failed to liquidate it in time Roger Ver’s huge position, which eventually forced him to seek restructuring, sparked an ongoing dispute between Roger Ver and CoinFLEX CEO Mark Lamb over responsibility for the platform’s collapse.

29 июня 2022 года Марк Лэмб написал в Твиттере: «Роджер Вер задолжал CoinFLEX 47 миллионов долларов США. Мы подписали письменный контракт, требующий от Роджера Вера лично гарантировать любой отрицательный капитал на его счете CoinFLEX и регулярно пополнять маржу. Однако он нарушил это соглашение, и CoinFLEX направил Роджеру Веру уведомление о нарушении». Роджер Вер написал в Твиттере, что дефолт по долгу был слухом, и опроверг его: «Я не только не должен этому контрагенту никаких долгов, но и этот контрагент должен мне большую сумму денег». В январе 2023 года Марк Лэмб опубликовал открытое письмо Роджеру Веру и генеральному директору Blockchaincom Питеру Смиту, в котором заявил, что CoinFLEX прекратил вывод средств на 250 дней, и 98% людей проголосовали за предложение реструктуризации CoinFLEX, но другая сторона продолжала вмешиваться. что привело к реструктуризации.

25 января 2023 года подразделение тогдашней обанкротившейся компании Genesis Global Capital обратилось в суд, чтобы обвинить Роджера Вера в неспособности провести расчеты по сделкам с криптовалютными опционами. Согласно иску, GGC требует «денежного возмещения за неспособность Ответчиков осуществить расчет по сделкам с криптовалютными опционами, срок действия которых истекает 30 декабря 2022 года, в сумме, которая будет определена в суде, но не менее 20,9 миллионов долларов США

Roger». На следующий день Вер ответил на этот вопрос на Reddit: «У него достаточно средств, чтобы выплатить Genesis свою задолженность, и он рад заплатить». «Однако наше соглашение требует, чтобы Genesis оставалась платежеспособной, потому что Genesis не может просить своих клиентов играть в игру «орёл — клиент проигрывает, решка — Genesis выигрывает». Он считает, что Genesis начала терять платежеспособность в июне прошлого года, и с нетерпением ожидает объяснений от Genesis». как именно оценить ряд проблемных моментов, включая несоответствие между оценками залогового обеспечения клиентов и их собственными криптоактивами.

6 ноября 2023 года Роджер Вер сообщил, что в августе 2022 года он подал в суд на Smart Vega Holding Limited, дочернюю компанию Matrixport Ву Джихана, требуя 8 миллионов долларов США. Он утверждал, что другая сторона заморозила его средства, поскольку он был признан ответственным за убытки CoinFLEX. В

Matrixport заявили, что этот шаг стал результатом расследования нарушений в торговле. Matrixport сообщает, что Роджер Вер является клиентом Bitcom. Дело возникло в результате расследования Биржи нарушений маржинальной торговли г-ном Вером, которое установило, что он нарушил свои договорные обязательства и был подвергнут штрафу из-за невыполнения маржинального требования.

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