LOS ANGELES – Roger Keith Ver, a 45-year-old former California resident and self-proclaimed ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ has been indicted on eight felony counts, including tax fraud and mail fraud, in connection with a scheme that allegedly caused a $48 million loss to the IRS.
Ver, who was arrested over the weekend in Spain, is accused of using his companies, MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., to acquire and sell bitcoins, while concealing his true ownership and financial gains from tax authorities.
According to the indictment, which was returned on February 15 and unsealed Monday, Ver allegedly began acquiring bitcoins for himself and his companies in 2011 and avidly promoted the cryptocurrency. By 2014, he owned approximately 131,000 bitcoins, which he and his companies allegedly sold for around $240 million in cash in 2017.
The indictment alleges that Ver provided false information to his law firm and appraiser, concealing the true number of bitcoins he and his companies owned, and causing his tax returns to be substantially undervalued. Even after renouncing his U.S. citizenship in 2014, Ver allegedly continued to conceal his bitcoin holdings and financial gains from tax authorities.
The indictment charges Ver with three counts of mail fraud, two counts of tax evasion, and three counts of subscribing to a false tax return. If convicted of all charges, Ver faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each mail fraud count, up to five years in federal prison for each tax evasion count, and up to three years in federal prison for each count of subscribing to a false tax return.
The IRS Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney James C. Hughes of the Major Frauds Section and Assistant Chief Matthew J. Kluge and Trial Attorney Peter J. Anthony of the Justice Department’s Tax Division prosecuting the case.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime|White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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