Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the news of a Texas man who has been jailed after evading $1 million in cryptocurrency taxes.
Texas Man Evades $1M in Cryptocurrency Taxes
A Texas man known as Frank Richard Ahlgren III is facing a two year jail sentence along with a potential fine of $1.1 million after it was discovered he failed to declare $4 million in cryptocurrency profits. Known as a pioneering Bitcoin investor, Frank Richard Ahlgren III is from Austin, Texas, and is the first individual to be criminally charged for failing to report cryptocurrency capital gains.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) noted that Ahlgren earned $3.7 million from selling 640 Bitcoin in 2017. He went on to use this money to purchase a luxury home in Park City, Utah. He failed to fully declare his profit as he systematically falsified his tax returns filed between 2017 and 2019. As part of this he concealed his profits along with an additional $650,000 in Bitcoin transactions.
Ahlgren made use of sophisticated methods to conceal his activities which included wallet transfers, crypto mixers, and in-person cash transactions. Back in 2017 his tax return contained false information regarding his Bitcoin purchase costs, which allowed him to evade over $1 million in taxes. The court has sentenced him to two years in prison along with one year of supervised release, while he will also be forced to pay restitution of $1,095,031.
The acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg has highlighted the significance of the case, stating:
“Frank Ahlgren III earned millions buying and selling bitcoins. But instead of paying the taxes he knew were due, he lied to his accountant about the extent of a large portion of his gains, and sought to conceal another chunk of his profits through sophisticated techniques designed to obscure his transactions on the bitcoin blockchain. That conduct today earned him a two-year sentence.”
The leader of the IRS investigation team, Lucy Tran, noted that despite popular belief cryptocurrency transactions are not beyond the reach of law enforcement. She stated:
“Ahlgren will serve time because he believed his cryptocurrency transactions were untraceable.”
This shows the mounting regulatory efforts to address crypto-related tax evasion as the rise in crypto-related tax offenses has grown. It is a concern worldwide, and earlier this year Roger Ver, widely known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” was charged with avoiding over $48 million in taxes after selling $240 million worth of cryptocurrency. His case had further complications as he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014, which allegedly allowed him to bypass the “exit tax” requirement.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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