Crypto investor Roger Ver, nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus,” has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a tax fraud case. As reported by The New York Times, he has agreed to pay about $48 million to settle claims of unpaid taxes related to his crypto assets.
Under the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, the criminal case will be closed if Ver fulfills all obligations. The document has not yet been filed in court and is subject to change, but sources say the deal is close to being finalized.
Federal prosecutors have accused the 46-year-old investor of tax evasion. According to the Justice Department, he concealed a significant portion of his assets while preparing documents to renounce his U.S. citizenship.
Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship back in 2014 and was arrested in Spain last year at the request of U.S. law enforcement officials.
The agreement was a symbol of a softening of policies on digital assets by the administration of Donald Trump, who has returned for a second term, experts said. After the change in power, the US Securities and Exchange Commission withdrew lawsuits against Coinbase and other major cryptocurrency companies.
In addition, Trump himself has already pardoned a number of well-known defendants in cases related to digital assets. Among them are Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road and the founders of the BitMEX exchange.
According to media reports, Ver actively sought the president’s support. He allegedly paid $600,000 to political adviser Roger Stone and hired several lawyers who had previously represented Trump. Journalists also assure that the investor worked with a lobbying firm associated with Brian Ballard — one of the main donors to the campaign of the U.S. President.
At the time of publication of the material, representatives of the Department of Justice and Ver himself did not comment on the rumors about the agreement. In an email, the investor only noted that he was “following the advice of a tax attorney.”
In one of his posts on the social network X (formerly Twitter), Ver said he was a “victim of politically motivated harassment” and asked Trump to intervene.
“Mr. President, I am an American, and I need your help,” he wrote.