Roger Ver, founder of Passports for Bitcoin.com., poses for a photograph in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, June 4, 2014. He’s known as Bitcoin Jesus in the world of cyber-currencies. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Ge
LOS ANGELES – A California cryptocurrency investor nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus” has paid nearly $50 million to resolve a federal tax evasion indictment without having to admit he committed a crime.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said they agreed to dismiss the charges against Roger Ver of Los Angeles, who admitted in a deferred-prosecution agreement that he failed to pay all the taxes that he owed to the Internal Revenue Service on the sale of Bitcoin after he renounced his US citizenship in 2014.
Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship after obtaining citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis, an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, in a process known as expatriation. Due to his net worth, Ver was required to file certain expatriation-related tax returns and to pay taxes on the capital gains on his world-wide assets, including his bitcoins.
Prosecutors had charged Ver with evading more than $48 million in taxes due from profits made by selling $240 million in crypto tokens.
He was arrested by Spanish authorities, but released on bail on the island of Mallorca.
After Donald Trump’s return to the White House, Ver appealed for a pardon and pleaded his case on social media.
Ultimately, Trump did not pardon him.
But the deal Ver reached with his administration, which is cozy with the crypto sector, will ensure he can avoid being sentenced to prison if he were to be convicted someday at trial, Reuters noted.
“I am very grateful this case has been dismissed and appreciate the Trump Administration’s leadership and professionalism in working towards this final resolution,” Ver told Bloomberg News. “I am also grateful to everyone who supported me and sought justice in my case.”
In the agreement, Ver admitted that when he filed his tax returns in May 2016, he did not report all his Bitcoins and pay the required capital gains tax on their sale to the tune of about $17 million, in addition to a $12 million penalty, prosecutors said.
“Mr. Ver is accepting responsibility for his actions and has agreed to pay a substantial penalty,” Acting United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “Every person, whether you’re a millionaire or not, is required by law to pay taxes and we will not hesitate to hold anyone accountable.”