Antiguan and Barbudan Charged with $48 Million Tax Fraud

Roger Ver, an Antigua and Barbuda citizen known as Bitcoin Jesus because of his early investment in cryptocurrency, has been detained in Spain due to a U.S. indictment.

Roger Ver was granted an Antiguan and Barbudan passport in May 2020, which expires next year.

Ver is also the Principal of the Stem Cell Research Center in Antigua and Barbuda.

In 2020, the Government invited Ver to invest in a private bank that is 80% owned by the Government. Notes from the Cabinet at that time indicated that the transfer of that sum would take place in a few days, subject to the ECCB approval.

During that time, Mr. Ver also agreed to purchase 1,000 laptops, which were expected to go to students at the High School level, enabling distance learning during COVID-19.

Ver is accused of committing several crimes, including mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns, to avoid paying more than $48 million in U.S. taxes.

U.S. authorities are attempting to curb questionable practices in the cryptocurrency industry, and this arrest is part of their efforts.

Ver, who gave up his U.S. citizenship in 2014 in favor of citizenship in St Kitts and Nevis, is charged with failing to report capital gains from his early investments in Bitcoin, which began in 2011.

According to U.S. tax laws, despite leaving the U.S., Ver was still required to file tax returns that included his Bitcoin gains and their fair-market values.

By February 4, 2014, Ver and his companies are said to have owned approximately 131,000 Bitcoin.

According to legal documents, Ver provided the law firm responsible for preparing his tax returns with misleading information, leading to significantly undervalued tax filings for two of his companies, which were reported to hold only 73,000 Bitcoins and omitted any mention of Ver’s personal Bitcoin holdings.

Ver sold tens of thousands of Bitcoins for around $240 million in November 2017, which he did not disclose to his accountant, resulting in the IRS missing out on at least $48 million in taxes, according to the indictment.

The announcement of the charges came from the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California.

The IRS Criminal Investigation’s cybercrimes unit is handling the investigation, reflecting the technical complexities involved in prosecuting crimes within the cryptocurrency domain.

In addition to his Bitcoin investments, Ver has also invested significantly in other major cryptocurrency platforms, including Kraken and Blockchain.com.

Ver’s relationship with the Bitcoin community soured after disagreements over proposed changes to Bitcoin’s network operations, leading him to shift his support to Bitcoin Cash, a Bitcoin spin-off, in 2017.

Social media reactions to Roger Ver’s arrest were mixed. Some members of the cryptocurrency community expressed disagreement with his actions and criticized his influence on the industry.

On April 26th, Ver was arrested in Barcelona. The arrest was made after a red Interpol notice was issued, which compelled the authorities to take Ver into custody. The US will ask for him to be extradited