An indictment was unsealed yesterday charging Roger Ver, an early investor in bitcoins, with mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. Ver, formerly of Santa Clara, California, owned MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., two companies that sold computer and networking equipment. He also avidly promoted bitcoins, earning him the moniker "Bitcoin Jesus."
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California announced the charges. The IRS Criminal Investigation's cybercrimes unit is currently looking into the case. Assistant Chief Matthew J. Kluge and Trial Attorney Peter J. Anthony of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney James C. Hughes for the Central District of California, are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.