A resident of Santa Clara, California, Ver owned and operated MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc. These two enterprises were involved in the sale of computer and networking equipment.
Roger Ver’s Business Ventures and Legal Troubles
The indictment states that starting in 2011, Ver began accumulating and promoting bitcoins personally and for his companies. His fervent advocacy earned him the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” within the community. The charges gain complexity with Ver’s change in nationality. On February 4, 2014, he obtained citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis and renounced his U.S. citizenship, a process called expatriation.
U.S. law required Ver to file tax returns for capital gains from the deemed sale of his worldwide assets. This included his substantial bitcoin holdings. This included his substantial Bitcoin holdings. He also had to report the assets’ fair market value and pay an “exit tax” on the capital gains.
BREAKING: Roger Ver, an early #bitcoin investor known to many as "Bitcoin Jesus," has been charged with tax fraud.
Stay tuned for updates: https://t.co/bnemUZb9IW
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) April 30, 2024
At expatriation, Ver and his companies held 131,000 bitcoins valued at $871 each, totaling over $114 million. Out of these, MemoryDealers and Agilestar allegedly held around 73,000 bitcoins. The indictment claims Ver failed to comply with financial obligations, evading nearly $50 million in
More About Roger Ver’s Case
The indictment alleges that Ver provided false information to both the law firm and the appraiser. This effectively concealed the true amount of bitcoins held by him and his companies. As a result, the law firm reportedly filed tax returns that grossly undervalued his two companies and their 73,000 bitcoins. Additionally, they failed to declare Ver’s personal bitcoin holdings.
Roger Ver, one of the earliest Bitcoin investors was arrested in Spain for alleged tax evasion and the US Govt is seeking his extradition. The US DOJ claims that Roger under-reported the value of his Bitcoin holdings when he gave up his US citizenship in ‘2014’.
At that time…
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) May 1, 2024
By June 2017, it is claimed that Ver’s companies still owned around 70,000 bitcoins. During that period, Ver allegedly took control of these assets and sold tens of thousands of bitcoins for about $240 million in November 2017. Despite no longer being a U.S. citizen, Ver was legally obligated to report and pay taxes on certain financial activities due to his companies being U.S.-based. You can see more about this case
