Roger Ver arrested in Spain after DOJ files tax fraud charges in the US

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced criminal charges against Roger Ver alongside his arrest on April 30.

The DOJ charges include mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. The mail fraud charges are related to the delivery of forms to three IRS addresses.

Ver was arrested in Spain by local law enforcement the same day, with the US seeking his extradition to face trial.

The DOJ claims that Ver and his companies held 131,000 BTC worth $871 each at the end of February 2014. The companies — namely MemoryDealers and Agilestar — held about 73,000 of the total Bitcoin.

Tax fraud

Ver’s tax evasion allegedly began after he renounced his US citizenship in 2014, then hired a law firm to assist him with US taxes and an appraiser to value the two companies.

According to the DOJ, Ver provided false or misleading information about the Bitcoin holdings as the law firm and appraiser “substantially undervalued” the companies and their 73,000 BTC holdings.

Additionally, the law firm and appraiser did not report Ver’s personal Bitcoin holdings.

The DOJ claims that Ver took possession of the two companies’ Bitcoin in 2017 — amounting to 70,000 BTC at the time — and subsequently sold it on exchanges for roughly $240 million.

He allegedly concealed the sales from his accountant and did not report gains or pay taxes on his personal tax return that year.

Even though he was not a US  citizen during the sales, Ver was required to file tax reports and pay certain taxes because the companies were US-based corporations.

Ver allegedly caused the IRS a loss of at least $48 million.

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