MemoryDealers aka Roger Ver Arrested!

[JollyGood]

I am not completely familiar with the full accusation against Ver but have read some details. It does seem as though the Bitcoin that were purchased by his companies (rather than himself) are where the dispute is originated.

From what I understand, the claim is that when Ver was no longer a US citizen, his companies (MemoryDealers.com and Agilestar.com) owned over 130,000 Bitcoin worth $144 million at the time. The allegation is Ver sold 70,000 Bitcoin from the companies for $240 million but hid the value of the companies when he was preparing his tax documents as he was emigrating.

Tax laws in the US is complicated for a reason. A person like you who can produce lots of wall of text posts should know that better than anybody.

They are complicated because people always come up with clever ideas to avoid/evade them.

Whenever somebody figures out a way to dodge his taxes, the law maker comes up with a new law tax to patch it up.

You can probably evade your taxes in some other country and flee to the US without facing any consequences but the opposite will not work. Remember McAfee too.

[franky1]

The allegation is Ver sold 70,000 Bitcoin from the companies for $240 million but hid the value of the companies when he was preparing his tax documents as he was emigrating.

even if he didnt sell.. he would still have to pay an "exit tax" when changing citizenship, so would end up having to sell some assets to pay that tax

What is the exit tax?

Under Sec. 877A, a U.S. exit tax may apply to individuals who relinquish their U.S. citizenship or are long-term residents who cease to be a U.S. permanent resident. The tax is designed to make sure that all unpaid taxes are settled before a U.S. citizen or resident withdraws from the U.S. tax system. Individuals subject to the exit tax generally are assessed tax as if they had sold all of their assets the day before they left the country, also known as a “deemed distribution.”

he had an incompetent accountant who tried to tell him he could escape paying no tax or minimal tax, by emigrating and changing citizenship.

even decade later he still refuses to pay whats owed, hoping new us gov will pardon him or change the tax code

[JollyGood]

Well, if the allegations against him are to be believed he and his tax affair advisors made a huge mistake by not mentioning the 131,000 BTC attributed to be owned by his two companies MemoryDealers.com and Agilestar.com.

If the law states clearly that an exit-tax had to be paid then it should have been taken care of. I do not know what Ver has stated in his defence about the specific allegation other than him generally stating he effectively employed tax advisors to ensure he did not make mistakes as he did not want to find himself in trouble at a later date.

The allegation is Ver sold 70,000 Bitcoin from the companies for $240 million but hid the value of the companies when he was preparing his tax documents as he was emigrating.

even if he didnt sell.. he would still have to pay an "exit tax" when changing citizenship, so would end up having to sell some assets to pay that tax

[dkbit98]

More than a year later and Roger is still locked in Spain!
Whatever you think about Roger Ver you should learn more about his case and why he was actually arrested.
He explained this in 20-minute documentary directed by Mikki Willis Bitcoin Jesus: The Rise, Legacy, and Fight for Freedom:
https://youtu.be/YzTnKTTyTko

[Abiky]

More than a year later and Roger is still locked in Spain!
Whatever you think about Roger Ver you should learn more about his case and why he was actually arrested.
He explained this in 20-minute documentary directed by Mikki Willis Bitcoin Jesus: The Rise, Legacy, and Fight for Freedom:
https://youtu.be/YzTnKTTyTko

Sad story. But maybe US President Donald Trump will pardon him? If he pardoned Ross Ulbricht, anything's possible. At least, Roger Ver's case is not as bad as SBF's. The latter got away with investors' money and was even a huge donor to the Democratic Party.

Roger Ver is a well-known OG Bitcoiner, beloved by many in the community. He may have moved to the "Bitcoin Cash" cause (big blocks). But at least he did many good things for Bitcoin in the early days. Just like Charlie Shrem. I hope Roger Ver gets out of prison soon. Best of luck to him and his family.

[nutildah]

The comedian in me thinks start a petition to Lock Ross Back Up. But the human being in me knows that its fucked to lay the law down on Roger as hard as they are. He's not "locked up" but he can't leave the country. Which is pretty messed up. The US is coming down on him too hard and should be willing to make a deal with him instead of threaten him with life imprisonment. That's too harsh. Hope the government - as an overall, cohesively functioning unit - sees the err in their ways as they did with Ross.

[NotATether]

The comedian in me thinks start a petition to Lock Ross Back Up. But the human being in me knows that its fucked to lay the law down on Roger as hard as they are. He's not "locked up" but he can't leave the country. Which is pretty messed up. The US is coming down on him too hard and should be willing to make a deal with him instead of threaten him with life imprisonment. That's too harsh. Hope the government - as an overall, cohesively functioning unit - sees the err in their ways as they did with Ross.

Roger Ver will probably have more support than Ulbricht had. There is Bitcoin.com for one - he owns that obviously - and I'm sure he's made quite a lot of industry connections from the early years of Bitcoin who will be sympathetic as well.

Lawyering up should not be an issue for him, but if they're going to detain him, they might as well give him a fair trial if court is where they wanted to take him.

[takuma sato]

More than a year later and Roger is still locked in Spain!
Whatever you think about Roger Ver you should learn more about his case and why he was actually arrested.
He explained this in 20-minute documentary directed by Mikki Willis Bitcoin Jesus: The Rise, Legacy, and Fight for Freedom:
https://youtu.be/YzTnKTTyTko

Sad story. But maybe US President Donald Trump will pardon him? If he pardoned Ross Ulbricht, anything's possible. At least, Roger Ver's case is not as bad as SBF's. The latter got away with investors' money and was even a huge donor to the Democratic Party.

Roger Ver is a well-known OG Bitcoiner, beloved by many in the community. He may have moved to the "Bitcoin Cash" cause (big blocks). But at least he did many good things for Bitcoin in the early days. Just like Charlie Shrem. I hope Roger Ver gets out of prison soon. Best of luck to him and his family.

As I much as I don't like how Roger Ver supported the big block hardforks, and considering the kind of people that is getting pardons by Trump (all sort of scammers, people that did not pay taxes but has connections of sorts) then we are going to see all those people get pardons, but not Roger? that is the slippery slope of pardons, but at this point, just give the dude a pardon, and if he screws up again, that's his fault. Nobody likes to pay taxes, but you don't get to not pay taxes, and then have no repercussions. If we didn't pay on so many taxes, nobody would pardon us because we are not famous and influential. It's not fair that only those with political leverage are given pardons.

[gmaxwell]

https://youtu.be/Hwk_-0UKcY4?t=510

William Duplessie, an "investment manager" for convicted felon Roger Ver, has been arrested for kidnapping and torturing a target to try to steal 22 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency.  He can be seen co-hosting a weekly BCH promotional show with Ver in the above video.

People here should think carefully about the kind of violent thugs they're defending.  There is of course a lot of negative things to say about the US's tax policy, but committing tax fraud doesn't make someone a good person.  Ver has stolen millions of dollars from cryptocurrency users by bankrupting coinflex, millions from crypto industry companies by failing to make good on his options contracts, apparently laundered funds for the mtgox hacker, and has a long history of being at most one step removed from the worst of the worst as we see here.

A lot of the gangsters of yesteryear ended up going down for tax evasion because it was just a lot easier to prove than the rest of their criminal enterprise which was concealed with layers of fall guys and plausibility deniability.

[dkbit98]

The comedian in me thinks start a petition to Lock Ross Back Up.

Hold on with that comedy, Ross just started receiving huge ''donations'' in his wallet that are not self-sent  

But the human being in me knows that its fucked to lay the law down on Roger as hard as they are. He's not "locked up" but he can't leave the country. Which is pretty messed up. The US is coming down on him too hard and should be willing to make a deal with him instead of threaten him with life imprisonment. That's too harsh. Hope the government - as an overall, cohesively functioning unit - sees the err in their ways as they did with Ross.

They wanted to make an example with Roger, and he explains everything in this latest documentary.
It's not that I trust Roger blindly, but I certainly trust him more than the government.
He is willing to pay what they ask, so let the man go back home at Saint Kitts and Nevis.

People here should think carefully about the kind of violent thugs they're defending.

I didn't see a single proof that Roget is a violent thug, and I didn't see anyone with life sentence in prison for alleged tax evasion.

[NomadTheSavior]

We need to create a huge movement to get Roger freed, Trump pardoned Ross so we should try to get him to give a pardon to Roger as well. It's possible but for it to happen everyone needs to support this. Let's get Roger free

[nutildah]

I didn't see anyone with life sentence in prison for alleged tax evasion.

It's not a "life sentence" so much as lengthy sentences for each charge that run consecutively. There have been quite a few instances of lengthy prison sentences for tax evasion, actually. A couple I can name off the top of my head are Al Capone and Irwin Schiff, Peter Schiff's dad. Other instances of lengthy sentences beyond the norm of 5 years:

Todd & Julie Chrisley
James Traficant
Duke Cunningham
Herbert Arthur Bates
David Larry Smith
Sanjay Shah

[JollyGood]

Why would Trump consider pardoning Ver when he has not been found guilty of any crime? If Ver (or anybody else for that matter) was found guilty of a crime and was in a US jail, a pardon is a possibility no matter how remote.

If we put aside our personal opinions and whether we like or dislike Ver and only look at the facts regarding the case against him, it seems as though Ver and/or his tax advisors made errors. If the alleged tax evasion relates to Bitcoin that were owned by his companies and not him and were not declared when he emigrated then that does have legal implications.

Even if the timing of the arrest and extradition request can be called in to question, the fact remains if he did not pay the correct tax there is a problem and that problem should be resolved with either a plea deal where Ver pays the money and the case against him is withdrawn or if he believes he does not need to pay the tax because the authorities are wrong he should fight the case in court.

We need to create a huge movement to get Roger freed, Trump pardoned Ross so we should try to get him to give a pardon to Roger as well. It's possible but for it to happen everyone needs to support this. Let's get Roger free

[dkbit98]

Latest update about this case:
Roger Ver is apparently suing Spain for violating his legal protections after Spanish authorities ruled that he could be extradited to the United States.
He filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights, but he didn't want to comment anything about this.
https://decrypt.co/330431/bitcoin-jesus-ver-sues-spain-block-extradition-us-tax-charges

[JollyGood]

As there was no recent update about Ver, I decided to look around for the latest news. Surprisingly, there is nothing therefore I looked at his wiki page. I learned two important points I was unaware of before:

In January 2025 Musk stated: “Roger Ver gave up his US citizenship, No pardon for Ver. Membership has its privileges.”
In April 2025 Roger Ver paid Roger Stone $600,000 to lobby for him in an effort to change the law that Ver was charged with violating

On the first point, even though Musk is no longer advising Trump it is hard to believe a pardon will be forthcoming if Ver is extradited to the US and then found guilty. Trump could basically refuse because Ver surrendered his US citizenship.

On the second point, it seems desperate on his behalf to pay $600,000 in the hope of changing a law that makes someone a criminal. Is it going to work?

[mindrust]

As there was no recent update about Ver, I decided to look around for the latest news. Surprisingly, there is nothing therefore I looked at his wiki page. I learned two important points I was unaware of before:

In January 2025 Musk stated: “Roger Ver gave up his US citizenship, No pardon for Ver. Membership has its privileges.”
In April 2025 Roger Ver paid Roger Stone $600,000 to lobby for him in an effort to change the law that Ver was charged with violating

On the first point, even though Musk is no longer advising Trump it is hard to believe a pardon will be forthcoming if Ver is extradited to the US and then found guilty. Trump could basically refuse because Ver surrendered his US citizenship.

On the second point, it seems desperate on his behalf to pay $600,000 in the hope of changing a law that makes someone a criminal. Is it going to work?

At this point US citizenship looks more like a curse than anything else. Trump is trying to sell that curse for 5 million dollars.  (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-gold-card-5-million-website/)

Under these circumstances, people should get paid a million usd to get that crap.

I guess the dems knew it better than Trump and that's why they were leaving the south border unchecked, allowing illegals in.

Rodger's only fault here was that he couldn't estimate the size of the abyss.

Just when he thought he was out, theeey pulled him back in.

[JollyGood]

In some ways, it is clearly understandable he does not want to be extradited because if he is found guilty he will face a long prison sentence (unless there is a plea bargain deal). I think we can all understand why he is fighting extradition.

On the other hand, I cannot understand the reluctance of him wanting to clear his name. If there was error in the filing of his paperwork related to his name or his companies, it will be proven in Court. He will have a chance to defend himself and he will be represented by the best lawyers because he will spend whatever it takes to try to clear is name.

If this is all down to his tax advisors (by not declaring the BTC that was supposedly owned by his companies when he was surrendering his US citizenship), then it will be problematic for Ver.

At this point US citizenship looks more like a curse than anything else. Trump is trying to sell that curse for 5 million dollars.  (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-gold-card-5-million-website/)

Under these circumstances, people should get paid a million usd to get that crap.

I guess the dems knew it better than Trump and that's why they were leaving the south border unchecked, allowing illegals in.

Rodger's only fault here was that he couldn't estimate the size of the abyss.

Just when he thought he was out, theeey pulled him back in.

[mv1986]

In some ways, it is clearly understandable he does not want to be extradited because if he is found guilty he will face a long prison sentence (unless there is a plea bargain deal). I think we can all understand why he is fighting extradition.

On the other hand, I cannot understand the reluctance of him wanting to clear his name. If there was error in the filing of his paperwork related to his name or his companies, it will be proven in Court. He will have a chance to defend himself and he will be represented by the best lawyers because he will spend whatever it takes to try to clear is name.

If this is all down to his tax advisors (by not declaring the BTC that was supposedly owned by his companies when he was surrendering his US citizenship), then it will be problematic for Ver.

At this point US citizenship looks more like a curse than anything else. Trump is trying to sell that curse for 5 million dollars.  (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-gold-card-5-million-website/)

Under these circumstances, people should get paid a million usd to get that crap.

I guess the dems knew it better than Trump and that's why they were leaving the south border unchecked, allowing illegals in.

Rodger's only fault here was that he couldn't estimate the size of the abyss.

Just when he thought he was out, theeey pulled him back in.

An interesting thought to have in mind here is how serious money can save you, see i.e. CZ. Correct me if I am wrong, but he was essentially convicted of all the things that guys like Ver or Bankman-Fried were convicted of. Or in the legal sense they turned it into something they could sell to the public that a sort of deal still makes sense. CZ has done as many things wrong as the others I guess? Seriously, correct me here if I am too superficial, but from what I understand the difference is that CZ was in the position to pay a MASSIVE penally while the other two are not. Bankman-Fried is broke and Ver doesn't have enough to impress prosecutors and the state.

[mindrust]

That’s the thing when you commit a crime you either go big or you go home. CZ committed a way bigger crime but he was also in a key position. He has many connections and knowhow. Similar with Roger but CZ is much much effective. Roger was in no position to offer anything the US would show any interest. CZ could. That’s why he is out and Rodger isn’t. How do you think all those Epstein dudes are still out there walking around freely? If you have something in your pocket that can counter balance the crime you committed, you can walk. If not, you rot in jail.

[Smartprofit]

To be honest, I don’t like Roger Ver very much.... He used to be called “Bitcoin Jesus” because he was one of the most active Bitcoin evangelists.

However, in late 2017, he went astray, created Bitcoin Cash and almost destroyed the real Bitcoin. At that time, he was in cahoots with Jihan Wu and I remember them spamming the Bitcoin blockchain with small transactions. In October 2017, Bitcoin Cash was the second largest cryptocurrency on Coinmarketcap and its value was half of Bitcoin…

However, now I sympathize with Roger Ver. After all, he did not kill, rape or commit other particularly serious crimes. Maybe if he just owned Bitcoin, none of this would have happened. However, he thought that if he could manipulate coins like Dash or Bitcoin Cash, it means he is a shark - a business and a great businessman.

However, he was wrong.  Modern Wall Street and government Washington is an ocean where huge sharks swim, compared to which Roger Ver is just a small dolphin. He was eaten by stronger and more predatory individuals, and now he is in prison. And it is not a fact that he will get out.