Editor’s Note: Roger Ver acquired his Antigua and Barbuda citizenship through the CBI program. He is also a citizen of St Kitts and Nevis. Roger owned and operated Pay Antigua and was once tipped to be non-resident ambassador in Japan. He was instrumental in installing several Bitcoin Cash ATM’s across the twin-island nation.
In August 2020, the Cabinet confirmed Ver’s Antigua citizenship: “Mr. Roger Ver is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda by way of the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) and has already demonstrated his commitment to Antigua and Barbuda, where he intends to maximize the use of the legislation in order to begin building Antigua and Barbuda’s market presence in this new drive to strengthen another sector in the Antigua and Barbuda economy.
The Justice Department unveiled criminal tax fraud charges this week against a prolific bitcoininvestor 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 Ver’s 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.
“At this time, I can say that we are very disappointed and surprised that Mr. Ver was arrested while traveling in Spain. This prosecution never should have been brought,” Bryan Skarlatos, a lawyer for Ver, told CNBC in a statement. “Mr. Ver relied on leading tax professionals to help him report his Bitcoin and he always intended to fully comply with his US tax obligations. We look forward to establishing his innocence in court, if necessary.”
If convicted, Ver’s felony charges could see him return to federal prison, where he spent 10 months in 2002 after pleading guilty to selling explosives called “Pest Control Report 2000” on eBay.
As bitcoin has boomed and busted over the past decade, the government has begun to pay more attention to possible financial crimes associated with the digital currency. The IRS has worked to get more sophisticated in tracking bitcoin investors as the currency has gone more mainstream.
According to the indictment, the IRS used a strategy called “clustering analysis” to track the blockchain and identify Ver’s bitcoin transactions.
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Surprise surprise…..
I wonder if he is good friend with Gaston Cbrowne? 🤡 he seems to be attracting alot of these people lately.
Based on the article, Ver is a citizen of St. Kitts Nevis. Why is the headline saying that he’s an Antiguan citizen?
Funny, I made the same comment and it wasn’t approved.
It’s called Free Speech and freedom to publish what we want.
August 2020, the Cabinet confirmed Ver’s Antigua citizenship: “Mr. Roger Ver is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda by way of the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) and has already demonstrated his commitment to Antigua and Barbuda, where he intends to maximize the use of the legislation in order to begin building Antigua and Barbuda’s market presence in this new drive to strengthen another sector in the Antigua and Barbuda economy.
@seeking clarity: The article did say clearly.He is a Citizen of St.Kitts and also a Citizen of Antigua and Barbuda by the CIP. Therefore,he is a Citizen of both Nations.
The article did. But why didn’t the headline say so also
The Article Speaks To Antiguan Government Verifying His Citizenship Through CIP….
Papa Bird Rolling In His Grave….
@Seeking clarity, I was thinking the same thing. I’m so use to these poorly written articles that I dismissed it.
FIRST ALLEN STANFORD NOW THIS? HOW MANY ANTIGUA’S & KITTITIANS WILL LOSE THEIR SOURCE OF INCOME ONCE LEINS ARE PUT ON ALL HIS BUSINESSES AND REAL ESTATE INTERESTS 🤔? WHOS GOING DOWN NEXT? BECAUSE MORE WILL FALL. ABLP FOR PROSPERITY? PROSPERITY FOR WHOM? GASTON AND HIS RED COMRADES…ANTIGUANS BETTER WAKE THE F&@K UP
This is why I’ve said time and time again that allowing a third party to conduct checks on CIP or CBI applicants should be halted forthwith.
IT IS BEING ABUSED!
This blatant loophole allows financial crooks and vagabonds to jump around from country to country virtually undetected to carry out their nefarious ways.
Come on Prime Minister Browne do something … oh wait!!! 😡
A person can hold multiple CIP passports . What is troubling was no due diligence was ever done knowing he served a sentence in federal prison in 2002 and was offered to be an ambassador to Spain where he was now arrested. Tell Gaston explain the spin on this one. One Chinese fighting extradition while this one’s lawyer saying he shouldn’t have been arrested, I wonder why?
So everything that the USA says is gospel? Bitcoin is new tech, what are they taxing it as?
I wonder if he rented the Prime Minister Jolly Harbour property also. Some how these people ends up being his tenants!!!
It seem we are attracting the wrong types of investors. WHY.
Because we cannot lure legitimate investors. Our politicians always want kickbacks, no exceptions.
Even Donald Trump has been charge and convicted for tax fraud. And he was President. So nothing really wrong here. My favorite Actor Wesley Snipe was also convicted for tax fraud. The thing is, you can find yourself accuse of tax fraud while not having a clue that you did it deliberately. But those are USA laws. Not ours. Actually many Antiguans with money here in the bank are most likely guilty of tax fraud if they do not tell Uncle Sam about their wealth here in Antigua. And with the new FATCA reporting requirements many may be in violation of this law.
The only people who have enough money to buy citizenship in a tiny Caribbean island are honest hard working people who earned their money legitimately and have no intention of breaking any laws.
You know what this is ? Persecution of an innocent man !!
Why are we surprised? There is a long list of CIP recipients who turn out to be crooks. But wait! Gaston Browne did say he knows how to sniff them out.
No matter what that CIP lady tells us, these crooks keep popping up, lending the lie to their claims of due diligence.
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