Michael Sparks ✨ 😶🌫️🗽⚡ on Nostr: Post from Spike Cohen... This man's name is Roger Ver. The IRS and DOJ are trying to ...
Post from Spike Cohen...
This man's name is Roger Ver.
The IRS and DOJ are trying to imprison him because he paid taxes on his Bitcoin 10 years ago.
The name Roger Ver may sound familiar. His startup company, Memory Dealers, was one of the first businesses to accept Bitcoin, back in 2011.
He was also one of the earliest founders of many businesses in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector, being involved in Bitcoin[.]com, Blockchain[.]com, Bitcoin Store, BitPay, Kraken, and many other giants in the crypto world.
Not surprisingly, he's also been a very strong advocate for liberty, peace, and free markets, donating millions of dollars to libertarian and anti-war causes, writing the best selling book Hijacking Bitcoin, and being very personally outspoken about defending freedom.
That may very well be what got him in trouble.
In 2014, Roger expatriated from the US. Part of the expatriation process is the "exit tax", which is a tax on any assets you own that you have to pay before you're allowed you to give up your citizenship. The exit tax rates can be as high as 30%. This is, of course, on assets you already paid taxes on when you earned them.
Keep in mind, at this point, Roger was one of the few people on earth who was actually trying to pay taxes on his Bitcoin, and certainly the only one who owned anywhere near as much as he did.
The IRS didn't even know yet what they considered Bitcoin from a tax standpoint. Was it a currency? A capital asset? They wouldn't say.
Not only was there no guidance from the IRS, the price was so volatile that it wasn't really possible to just assign a value to it.
And if Roger had actually tried to sell his Bitcoin at the time, he would've crashed the market. The only major exchange back then was Mt. Gox, and it had just shut down. If he had tried unloading all the Bitcoin he had in smaller exchanges, the price would've completely cratered.
He couldn't just use the expected sale price to value his Bitcoin.
So he hired top legal and financial advisors, including former federal agents, to come up with a good-faith way to value both his crypto assets and his corporate holdings, and he submitted that and paid taxes on them.
3 years later, the IRS and DOJ decided they didn't like the valuation Roger gave them.
So instead of notifying him that they thought he owed more and giving him a chance to amend their return or appeal, which is what they pretty much always do in cases of suspected underreporting, the DOJ raided Roger's law firm, interrogated his attorneys, and seized privileged communications between them. This is a blatant violation of Roger's right to privileged communication with his attorneys, but that didn't stop them from continuously violating it.
And to cover up these abuses, they've repeatedly tried to get Roger to waive his attorney-client privilege, which is a very clear violation of DOJ policy.
Roger made it clear then, and continues to make it clear now, that he is more than happy for the IRS and DOJ to tell him what they think he owes them, and work with them on an agreeable resolution.
Despite this, earlier this year, Roger was arrested for tax evasion and mail fraud. Pretty incredible to arrest someone for tax evasion who has repeatedly asked to know what the IRS thinks he owes in taxes so he can pay it.
Not only that, but he was arrested on vacation in Spain, and he's not allowed to leave while they're seeking extradition. He doesn't live there.
Taxation is extortion, and even though Roger tried to comply with it, he's still facing imprisonment.
This could all end tomorrow if President Biden treated Roger the same way he just treated Hunter, and ordered the charges to be dropped against him.
If he won't do it, then hopefully incoming President Trump will.
Free Roger Ver.
This man's name is Roger Ver.
The IRS and DOJ are trying to imprison him because he paid taxes on his Bitcoin 10 years ago.
The name Roger Ver may sound familiar. His startup company, Memory Dealers, was one of the first businesses to accept Bitcoin, back in 2011.
He was also one of the earliest founders of many businesses in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector, being involved in Bitcoin[.]com, Blockchain[.]com, Bitcoin Store, BitPay, Kraken, and many other giants in the crypto world.
Not surprisingly, he's also been a very strong advocate for liberty, peace, and free markets, donating millions of dollars to libertarian and anti-war causes, writing the best selling book Hijacking Bitcoin, and being very personally outspoken about defending freedom.
That may very well be what got him in trouble.
In 2014, Roger expatriated from the US. Part of the expatriation process is the "exit tax", which is a tax on any assets you own that you have to pay before you're allowed you to give up your citizenship. The exit tax rates can be as high as 30%. This is, of course, on assets you already paid taxes on when you earned them.
Keep in mind, at this point, Roger was one of the few people on earth who was actually trying to pay taxes on his Bitcoin, and certainly the only one who owned anywhere near as much as he did.
The IRS didn't even know yet what they considered Bitcoin from a tax standpoint. Was it a currency? A capital asset? They wouldn't say.
Not only was there no guidance from the IRS, the price was so volatile that it wasn't really possible to just assign a value to it.
And if Roger had actually tried to sell his Bitcoin at the time, he would've crashed the market. The only major exchange back then was Mt. Gox, and it had just shut down. If he had tried unloading all the Bitcoin he had in smaller exchanges, the price would've completely cratered.
He couldn't just use the expected sale price to value his Bitcoin.
So he hired top legal and financial advisors, including former federal agents, to come up with a good-faith way to value both his crypto assets and his corporate holdings, and he submitted that and paid taxes on them.
3 years later, the IRS and DOJ decided they didn't like the valuation Roger gave them.
So instead of notifying him that they thought he owed more and giving him a chance to amend their return or appeal, which is what they pretty much always do in cases of suspected underreporting, the DOJ raided Roger's law firm, interrogated his attorneys, and seized privileged communications between them. This is a blatant violation of Roger's right to privileged communication with his attorneys, but that didn't stop them from continuously violating it.
And to cover up these abuses, they've repeatedly tried to get Roger to waive his attorney-client privilege, which is a very clear violation of DOJ policy.
Roger made it clear then, and continues to make it clear now, that he is more than happy for the IRS and DOJ to tell him what they think he owes them, and work with them on an agreeable resolution.
Despite this, earlier this year, Roger was arrested for tax evasion and mail fraud. Pretty incredible to arrest someone for tax evasion who has repeatedly asked to know what the IRS thinks he owes in taxes so he can pay it.
Not only that, but he was arrested on vacation in Spain, and he's not allowed to leave while they're seeking extradition. He doesn't live there.
Taxation is extortion, and even though Roger tried to comply with it, he's still facing imprisonment.
This could all end tomorrow if President Biden treated Roger the same way he just treated Hunter, and ordered the charges to be dropped against him.
If he won't do it, then hopefully incoming President Trump will.
Free Roger Ver.