By David Voreacos, Olga Kharif and Miles J. Herszenhorn, Bloomberg
Roger Ver, the cryptocurrency advocate known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has paid nearly $50 million to resolve a US tax evasion indictment without having to admit he committed a crime.
Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the indictment against Ver, 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, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
“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.”
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, while lobbying for his case on social media.
“Please Donald Trump, I need your help to end this lawfare and allow me to come home so that I can help you make America great again,” Ver said in a video posted on X in January.
The video triggered a sharp response from Elon Musk, who criticized Ver for giving up his US citizenship.
“Roger Ver gave up his US citizenship. No pardon for Ver. Membership has its privileges,” Musk, an American citizen who was born in South Africa, said in his own X post.
Ver’s lawyers later abandoned the pardon bid and negotiated the deal announced Tuesday.
“We are pleased that Mr. Ver has taken responsibility for his past misconduct and satisfied his obligations to the American public,” said Associate Deputy Attorney General Ketan D. Bhirud in a statement. “This resolution sends a clear message: whether you deal in dollars or digital assets, you must file accurate tax returns and pay what you owe.”
Ver admitted that he owned at least 130,664 Bitcoin worth about $73.7 million at the time he renounced his US citizenship and became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis. Because he renounced his citizenship, he was required to report all his Bitcoin on his tax returns and pay tax on the sale, prosecutors wrote in a court filing asking a Los Angeles federal judge to dismiss his 2024 indictment.
But Ver admitted that when he filed his returns in May 2016, they did “not report ownership of all these Bitcoins and did not report capital gains from the constructive sale of all of these Bitcoins,” according to the filing. Ver admitted that his understatement of tax on his 2014 return was willful.
Ver agreed not to seek a refund for the next three years. If he breaches the accord, prosecutors can seek to reinstate the indictment, according to the filing.
After his arrest, Ver attacked the basis for his indictment and sought to block his extradition from Spain to the US.
Ver’s lawyers argued that the exit tax, applied by the IRS to US citizens who expatriate with more than $2 million in assets, is unconstitutional and “impermissibly vague.” They said prosecutors improperly interrogated one of Ver’s lawyers and ignored documents showing he had no intent to break the law.
The case is United States v. Ver, 24-cr-103, US District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
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