A billionaire known as “Bitcoin Jesus” was under indictment for massive criminal tax fraud and very likely going to prison.
Then, he hired a “Friend of Trump” and the criminal charges disappeared.
How did they do it? @AASchapiro and I spent months getting the inside story.
The billionaire, Roger Ver, is not hardcore MAGA. He’s a libertarian who renounced his US citizenship a decade ago on what he called “the happiest day of his life.”
When he left, he controlled about 1% of the world supply of Bitcoin. The DOJ claimed he dodged ~$50m in taxes.
Prosecutors felt their case was airtight, per those familiar: Emails of Ver misleading his own lawyers about his assets. A speech in which Ver said that friends ask him how to use BTC to evade taxes.
They believed the crypto world was rife with tax fraud and they wanted to make an example of Ver. They were ready to go to trial.
But the DOJ under Trump has changed dramatically.
A small club of lawyers who are tight with the admin–prosecutors have nicknamed them “Friends of Trump”–have easy access to DOJ leadership.
Ver hired Chris Kise, Trump’s onetime personal attorney.
propublica.org/article/bitcoi…
Kise had helped bring Todd Blanche into Trump’s inner circle. Blanche is now the No. 2 at Justice.
Kise got to work lobbying Blanche and another former Trump family lawyer in DOJ leadership. They cut career prosecutors out of the loop and negotiated with Ver’s team directly.
After Kise’s intervention, DOJ took prison off the table. They abandoned the criminal charges.
They offered Ver a deal to go free if he paid $50m in taxes and fees–the same amount he allegedly owed 10+ years ago. Less than he recently paid for a luxury yacht.
Kise even dictated that the final agreement could not use the word “fraud.”
The deal astonished tax experts. “I know of no cases like this,” said one.
A DOJ prosecutor says the deal crushed morale. “It stinks to high heaven.”
The DOJ responded that Ver “took full responsibility for his gross financial misconduct” and under Trump, no one can buy their way out of accountability. Kise, Ver, Blanche and the White House did not comment.
Ver had always maintained he never intended to dodge taxes and assessing Bitcoin for tax purposes is difficult. His lawyers argued the DOJ took his statements out of context. Ver admitted to “willful” misconduct in the final deal.
“Friends of Trump” are now in high demand for uber-wealthy people accused of white collar crimes.
One defense attorney said he would point clients to Ver’s deal—which Kise signed in giant letters—and say, “These are the guys who got this done.”
Read the full story from me and @AASchapiro here: propublica.org/article/bitcoi…
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