A crypto investor known as “Bitcoin Jesus” has been released on bail in Spain, where he faces extradition to the U.S. on tax fraud charges.
Roger Ver was allowed to leave jail May 17 after posting €150,000 ($163,000) in bail on the condition that he remain in Spain and hand in his passport, according to a copy of the judge’s decision seen by Bloomberg News. Ver must also go to court every two days. The prosecutor’s appeal against the release was rejected two weeks later.
U.S. authorities are seeking Ver’s extradition to face charges for tax fraud. According to the Justice Department, Ver failed to report capital gains or pay taxes on his holdings of Bitcoin, which he started to acquire in 2011. Ver sold Bitcoins for about €240 million in 2017 but allegedly didn’t tell his accountant about the sale, according to the document.
Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
By doing so, Ver allegedly failed to pay at least $48 million, according to the documents. Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship and became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014 but was still required to file U.S. tax returns on gains from certain assets.
Ver earned the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” as an early proselytizer for the crypto currency. He left the Bitcoin community after several years over a disagreement over whether to change how the digital currency’s network functioned.
Ver “is not a fugitive at all, since he has been in touch with the U.S. authorities through his Californian lawyers,” his lawyer Jaime Campaner said. “Therefore, he was aware of the investigation and, in my opinion, his arrest didn’t make sense.”
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