Roger Ver, also known as "Bitcoin Jesus," an early Bitcoin investor, was arrested in April while attending a cryptocurrency conference in Barcelona and is awaiting a Spanish judge's decision on whether to extradite him to the United States.
Ver spent a month in jail before being released on bail and moving to Mallorca, where he has received a steady stream of visitors. He has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. government, saying he was persecuted by prosecutors, "They don't like me, including my political views, and they attack me in every way."
Ver said the Justice Department ignored evidence that helped his defense and refuted the prosecutor's core premise, denying intentionally deceiving the IRS. He said that when the IRS's policy on taxing cryptocurrency sales was not yet determined, he relied on professionals to advise him to ensure that there would be no tax problems.
A representative for the Department of Justice declined to comment.
Earlier in May, Roger Ver was accused by the Department of Justice of mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns, and was arrested in Spain on U.S. criminal charges. The United States will seek to extradite Roger Ver to the United States for trial.
Roger Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship on February 4, 2014. After moving abroad, U.S. law required Roger Ver to file a tax return to report the capital gains from the sale of his assets worldwide (including Bitcoin), and he was required to pay taxes on these capital gains. The Department of Justice believes that Roger Ver has caused the IRS a total loss of at least $48 million.