In February 2014, Roger Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship and obtained citizenship from St. Kitts and Nevis. According to the Justice Department, he was supposed to file tax returns for capital gains from his Bitcoin holdings and disclose the fair market value of his assets under U.S. laws. At the time, Ver reportedly owned around 131,000 bitcoins personally and an additional 73,000 through his companies, MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., both of which were based in the U.S.
According to the DOJ, Ver allegedly liquidated thousands of bitcoins in 2017 for an estimated $240 million but did not pay the required capital gains or exit tax despite no longer being a U.S. citizen. The indictment also states that he was still legally obligated to report certain distributions, such as company dividends for MemoryDealers and Agilestar. Following his arrest in Europe, the United States government intends to seek Ver’s extradition and prosecute him on American soil.