Bitcoin Investor Roger Ver Arrested in Spain for $50 Million Tax Fraud
Roger Ver faces extradition after Spain arrest for alleged $50M tax evasion
Bitcoin investor Roger Ver was detained in Spain on tax fraud charges, according to a recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is now pursuing Ver's extradition to face trial in the U.S., where he is accused of evading taxes totaling $50 million.
Ver, who became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014, still operated two American companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar. The DOJ alleges he failed to pay sufficient exit taxes on the capital gains from his assets, including approximately 131,000 bitcoins owned between him and his companies in 2014, with 73,000 directly held by the companies.
Under U.S. law, Ver was required to declare the capital gains from all his global assets on his tax returns. However, the DOJ contends that his failure to do so resulted in an IRS loss of at least $48 million. By mid-2017, Ver's companies reportedly retained about 70,000 bitcoins. Ver allegedly took control of these bitcoins, selling many of them for around $240 million in November 2017.
Furthermore, he is accused of providing misleading information to a law firm, leading to the filing of false tax returns that underreported the value of the bitcoins and his ownership of them. This incident highlights the critical need for transparency and compliance in handling cryptocurrency assets concerning tax obligations.
