The largest corporation holding Bitcoin, MicroStrategy, and its Executive Chairman and notorious ‘Bitcoin Bull’ Michael Saylor are being sued by the District of Columbia (D.C.) for alleged tax fraud.
The complaint alleges that Saylor never paid any income taxes in the district in the over 10 years he has lived there. In addition, MicroStrategy is being sued “for conspiring to help him (Saylor) evade taxes he legally owes on hundreds of millions of dollars he’s earned while living in Washington.”
DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine made the announcement himself on Twitter on Wednesday.
A follow-up tweet by Racine looks to imply that someone had tipped of the Office of the Attorney General on Saylor’s alleged misstep. He said this would be the “1st lawsuit brought under DC’s recently amended False Claims Act encouraging whistleblowers to report residents who evade our tax laws by misrepresenting their residence.”
Saylor is accused of avoiding to pay more than $25 million in taxes to the district which is now pursuing to seek back taxes, treble damages, civil penalties, expenses and fees.
The complaint further details that Saylor was “masquerading” as a Florida or Virginia resident, by having purchased property and registered to vote in these states. However, Saylor was believed to be living in a penthouse in Washington while he still lived in D.C for more than 183 days in a year, the statutory minimum which considers someone a resident.
Saylor responded in a statement, where he said that although MicroStrategy headquarters is in Virginia, he himself had moved to Miami Beach:
“Florida is where I live, vote, and have reported for jury duty, and it is at the center of my personal and family life. I respectfully disagree with the position of the District of Columbia, and look forward to a fair resolution in the courts.”
Following the news, MicroStrategy shares dropped more than 4%.
Under Michael Saylor’s leadership as company CEO, MicroStrategy has accumulated 129,699 BTC which it has no intentions to sell. At today’s price the holdings represents a value of roughly $2.6 billion.
At the beginning of August, Saylor stepped down as CEO to focus on MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin ambitions.
The post Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy Sued for Tax Fraud after Tip Off appeared first on iGaming.org.
Source: Igaming
