Early crypto investor Roger Ver, a.okay.a. ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ has been charged with a tax fraud, with the Division of Justice saying he evaded practically $50 million in taxes.
In an indictment filed in federal courtroom in Los Angeles, 45-year-old Ver is charged with mail fraud and tax evasion. The DOJ acknowledged that the indictment was unsealed after his arrest in Spain over the weekend, and the U.S. authorities are looking for his extradition.
Ver earned the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” because of his early investments in cryptocurrency and his tendency to preach about it. Born in California, Ver renounced his US citizenship in February 2014 to turn out to be a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, a dual-island nation positioned between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
Based on the indictment, Ver didn’t report the 131,000 Bitcoins he owned in 2014 when he renounced his citizenship. Utilizing this technique, Ver is alleged to have prevented taxes, underrepresented his Bitcoin holdings, and evaded taxes. In the meanwhile, Bitcoin is buying and selling at round $57,000, which suggests Ver’s 131,000 Bitcoins are value about $7.5 billion.
Ver’s indictment comes a day after cryptocurrency change Binance founder Changpeng Zhao who pleaded guilty last year to money laundering, obtained a four-month jail sentence. Beforehand, Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of the FTX crypto exchange, was sentenced to 25 years in jail.
