DOJ charges 'Bitcoin Jesus' with $48 million tax fraud, seeks extradition
Source: CNBC
Published Wed, May 1 2024 11:15 AM EDT Updated 3 hours ago
The Justice Department unveiled criminal tax fraud charges this week against a prolific bitcoin investor named Roger Ver. He came to be known as Bitcoin Jesus, for getting in early on the digital currency and making a fortune. Ver allegedly evaded at least $48 million in taxes, according to the indictment announced Tuesday.
The indictment, filed in California federal court, claims that Ver executed the fraud scheme by failing to report a portion of the 131,000 bitcoin that he owned in 2014, when he renounced his U.S. citizenship after becoming a citizen of the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
At the time, each bitcoin was worth roughly $871. It was trading Wednesday morning at $57,416, which would make Vers 131,000 bitcoins worth more than $7.5 billion. Becoming a U.S. expat requires an individual to pay a special tax to the Internal Revenue Service. The DOJ alleges that in preparing those tax filings, Ver underrepresented his bitcoin holdings and evaded taxes on them.
The indictment further alleges that even after his expatriation from the U.S., Ver continued to underreport his bitcoin ownership, which he was still required to pay U.S. taxes on. Ver was arrested in Spain over the weekend. The United States is seeking his extradition to face trial on eight counts related to tax evasion, mail fraud and filing false tax returns.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/doj-charges-bitcoin-jesus-with-48-million-in-tax-fraud-seeks-extradition-.html
Link to DOJ PRESS RELEASE - Early Bitcoin Investor Charged with Tax Fraud
Link to original (now-unsealed) DOJ Grand Jury INDICTMENT (PDF) - https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1350116/dl?inline
canuckledragger
(1,675 posts)FakeNoose
(33,196 posts)If only they would stop doing that, then crypto would be worthless.
everyonematters
(3,447 posts)potentially disastrous for the economy.
Ford_Prefect
(7,977 posts)now an empty formula consuming enormous amounts of electricity to prove the existence of a non-entity. Vegas wishes it had this kind of deal.
oasis
(49,716 posts)Now you see it. now you don't.
Aussie105
(5,593 posts)1. Running an algorithm on a computer could generate money.
2. Why Crypto addicts could never answer 1.
3. Why said addicts got angry when their circuitous explanation that didn't answer the question wasn't acceptable.
Undoubtedly as it is now, it really is a Ponzi scheme. Probably was, from the start.