Roger Ver deferred-prosecution deal with DOJ over tax and fraud charges

Roger Ver, a prominent early bitcoin investor widely known within the cryptocurrency community as Bitcoin Jesus, has reached a tentative deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that would require him to pay roughly $48 million to resolve criminal fraud and tax charges, people familiar with the matter said. Under the proposed terms, prosecutors would move to drop the charges if Ver complies with the agreement, which has not yet been filed in court and remains subject to change.

Federal prosecutors charged Ver in 2024 with mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns, alleging he concealed ownership of substantial cryptocurrency holdings and deprived the government of millions in taxes after renouncing U.S. citizenship in 2014. The filings say the charges stem in part from the sale of cryptocurrency holdings estimated at about $240 million and from an exit tax tied to his renunciation. Ver was arrested in Spain in 2024 after U.S. authorities sought his extradition to face the case in the Central District of California.

The tentative deal would have Ver pay approximately the same amount prosecutors say he owes. Deferred-prosecution agreements...