Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor famously known as Bitcoin Jesus, has been charged and arrested by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly evading taxes amounting to $50 million.

The DOJ unsealed the indictment against Ver on April 29 and ordered his arrest in Spain over the weekend, according to an official release.

The charges against Ver include filing false tax returns, committing mail fraud, and tax evasion spanning from 2011 to 2017 through his companies MemoryDealers Inc. and Agilestar Inc.

Ver gained prominence in the cryptocurrency space for purchasing thousands of bitcoins for himself and his firms starting in 2011. By February 2014, he and his companies had acquired approximately 131,000 BTC, traded at around $871 each on various exchanges. Notably, Ver's advocacy for Bitcoin earned him the moniker Bitcoin Jesus.

In 2014, Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship and obtained citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis, a move that required him to report capital gains from asset sales, including bitcoins, to U.S. authorities. However, the indictment alleges that Ver provided misleading information to conceal the number of bitcoins he owned.

Furthermore, Ver is accused of undervaluing his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar, in tax reports filed with the help of a law firm and appraiser. He allegedly failed to report his companies' dividends and transactions involving bitcoins to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) despite their U.S. corporate status.

In 2017, Ver purportedly sold 70,000 BTC owned by his companies for approximately $240 million in cash, yet failed to report the gains to the IRS or his accountant.

The U.S. government intends to extradite Ver to the United States to face trial for the charges against him.

The arrest of Roger Ver marks a significant development in the cryptocurrency space and underscores the increasing scrutiny and enforcement actions by regulatory authorities against individuals and entities involved in the crypto industry.