'Bitcoin Jesus' Roger Barr Sues Spanish Authorities Over Tax Evasion Charges

## Lawsuit regarding extradition to the United States

Roger Ver, an angel investor in Bitcoin (BTC) related startups, has sued Spanish authorities to prevent his extradition to the United States on charges of tax evasion. Bloomberg reported this on the 17th.

Mr. Barr was one of the first to pay attention to the potential of Bitcoin around 2011. As an individual, he invested a large amount of money in related startups and contributed to the early popularization. This background has earned him the nickname "Bitcoin Jesus".

Barr filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. It alleges that Spanish authorities violated his legal protections by ordering Barr to be extradited to the United States for trial.

Additionally, Mr. Barr's lawyer argued that the Spanish authorities did not assess the legal "uncertainty and instability" surrounding U.S. cryptocurrency taxation during the period covered by the indictment.

Mr. Barr is facing up to 109 years in prison for failing to pay taxes to the U.S. IRS (Internal Revenue Service) in connection with the sale of Bitcoin.

The U.S. Department of Justice claimed that Mr. Barr significantly undervalued the value of his held Bitcoin in his "exit tax" declaration prior to renouncing U.S. citizenship in 2014, and that he has an estimated unpaid amount of $48 million (approximately 7.1 billion yen) owed to the IRS.

In addition, in 2017, Mr. Barr sold approximately $240 million (about 35.5 billion yen) worth of virtual currency through two companies he established in the United States, "Memory Dealers" and "Agile Star," but it is claimed that he concealed this.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California filed the following allegations:

Although Mr. Barr was not a U.S. citizen at the time, he had a legal obligation to report and pay taxes to the IRS on certain distributions, such as dividends from the U.S. companies "Memory Dealers" and "Agile Star."

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Barr on eight counts, including mail fraud, tax evasion and false tax returns. In 2024, Barr was arrested in Spain at the request of the Justice Department.

In December of the same year, Mr. Bar moved to dismiss all eight charges. He argues that the exit tax imposed on U.S. citizens with assets exceeding $2 million (approximately 300 million yen) when they move abroad is unconstitutional and that the government's claims are based on "unforgivably vague grounds."

Barr's lawyer also said the U.S. Department of Justice's indictment was politically motivated by Barr's pro-crypto stance and was "unconstitutional and excessive."

Some are calling for amnesty

After Donald Trump, who is favorable to cryptocurrencies, was re-elected as president, Mr. Barr appealed to the president for a pardon and engaged in activities to seek support for his lawsuit on social media.

Among those supporting the release of Mr. Barr, there is also Mr. Ross Ulbricht, who recently received a pardon from President Trump. In February, he stated that no one should spend the rest of their life in prison simply for not paying taxes.

Source: Mr. Ross Ulbricht's X post

If there are taxes that need to be paid, it is argued that they should be paid and released.

Mr. Ulbricht is the founder of the dark web "Silk Road." He was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for crimes including conspiracy to commit money laundering and drug trafficking, but President Trump granted him a pardon as promised.

On the other hand, there were opinions from figures like Elon Musk that it would be difficult for Barr to receive a pardon due to his renunciation of U.S. citizenship.