- Roger Ver “Bitcoin Jesus” was recently reported to have been arrested in Spain for causing a loss of almost $50 million to the IRS.
- Interestingly, details suggest that he under-reported his assets during his expatriation, but a section of the crypto community believes the reason for his arrest goes deeper than that.
Crypto Key News recently published a comprehensive report on the arrest of Roger Ver, also known as Bitcoin Jesus, on allegations of mail fraud, tax evasion, and subscription to a false tax return. This triggered a strong reaction from the crypto community who suspect that the early Bitcoin investor and promoter was indicted for his opinions. Today, several details have emerged from the US Justice Department, detailing his alleged conscious effort to evade almost $50 million in tax.
According to multiple reports, Ver’s background runs deep into the crypto industry – creating the honey badger meme and investing in several crypto startups. His involvement in Bitcoin was very active until he incurred hostility from the community for his support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in 2017.
Early Days of “Bitcoin Jesus”
Digging into his early days, Bitcoin Jesus founded two main companies – MemoryDealers.com and Agilestar.com to sell computer parts in California. Per the data available, Ver was a die-hard anarcho-capitalist. However, he had to go to prison for a short time for selling illegal fireworks. When defending himself, Ver argued that his confrontation with the law was a political lawsuit considering the fact that the trade in fireworks was absolutely legal in agriculture.
After serving his sentence, he reportedly moved to Japan in 2005, before emigrating to St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014. According to reports, his Bitcoin accumulation process started in 2011, and at a point distributed some to his companies. In 2014, Ver owned 131,000 Bitcoins, with 73,000 BTC registered in the name of the companies. At that time, Bitcoin was trading at $871. In 2017, he sold most of the Bitcoins for $240 million.
More Discoveries on the Case
While living comfortably within St Kitts, Ver decided to renounce his US citizenship. To facilitate this process, he hired a lawyer to calculate his exit tax and also hired an appraiser to evaluate the value of his company. However, the indictment unsealed by the federal grand jury alleges that Ver provided false information to conceal the true number of Bitcoins owned by himself and the companies. According to reports, he claimed to have given 25,000 Bitcoins to his partner as a gift in 2011.
Some reports assume that the IRS investigation certainly involved blockchain analysis in determining the number of Bitcoins owned by Roger Ver and his companies. With this, many crypto enthusiasts including Ripple Labs’ CTO David Schwartz believe that the US authorities certainly dislike him for what he stands for. Others also believe that his arrest was triggered by a book he published recently entitled “Hijacking Bitcoin.”
