Ver is facing US fraud and tax evasion charges. Meanwhile, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was granted permission to leave France after months of legal trouble, with supporters framing his case as a battle for free speech. In the UK, Bitcoin investor James Howells suffered yet another legal defeat in his bid to recover a lost hard drive containing 8,000 BTC, as courts rejected his landfill excavation request. With Bitcoin now above $83,000, his holdings are worth over $660 million, but time is running out as the landfill is set to close soon.
Marla Maples Backs Roger Ver
Marla Maples, the second ex-wife of US President Donald Trump, publicly voiced her support for dismissing the charges against early Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver, who is also known as "Bitcoin Jesus." In a March 16 post on X, Maples shared a video from an organization backing Ver’s cause and tagged Trump, Elon Musk, and US Attorney General Pam Bondi, in a call to end his prosecution.
Ver was indicted by the US Department of Justice in April of 2024 on charges of mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. Authorities claim he concealed his Bitcoin holdings when renouncing his US citizenship in 2014 and defrauded the IRS out of $48 million by failing to disclose profits from Bitcoin sales. He was arrested in Spain after the indictment, and was later granted bail under the condition that he remain in the country.
Maples was married to Trump from 1993 to 1999 and shares a daughter, Tiffany Trump, and has remained publicly supportive of the president. She attended Trump’s inauguration and is more than willing to contribute to his political efforts in any way possible. Her stance on Ver is also very similar to that of other high-profile figures, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a double life sentence before receiving a pardon from Trump in January.
Ver has petitioned Trump for a pardon, and claims that he is being unfairly targeted and is a victim of "lawfare." However, there has been no public response from Trump or the White House regarding his request. Meanwhile, Elon Musk dismissed the idea of a pardon in a January X post by stating that Ver “gave up his US citizenship” and that "membership has its privileges."
In December, Ver filed a motion to dismiss the case, and argued that the charges were unconstitutional and that the IRS' "exit tax" for renounced citizens is ambiguous when applied to cryptocurrency.
Pavel Durov Leaves France
Meanwhile, The Open Network (TON) Society hailed the return of Pavel Durov’s passport as a victory for free speech, online privacy, and technological innovation. Durov is the founder of Telegram, and was allowed to leave France for Dubai on March 15 after receiving official permission from French authorities. The TON Society has been very vocal in its support since his arrest on Aug. 24 of last year, and held firm that his detention was a direct attack on fundamental human rights.
(Source: TON Society)
The organization previously condemned the French government’s actions in an open letter, and called on global institutions like the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union to intervene. The group placed a lot of emphasis on the fact that Durov’s steadfast commitment to freedom of speech, even under immense personal and political pressure, served as a reminder of the importance of upholding core principles despite adversity.
The arrest caused a lot of concerns in the crypto industry, particularly among privacy advocates and supporters of decentralized technologies. Many saw the situation as a warning about the growing pressure from state authorities to regulate and censor online platforms. Chris Pavlovski, CEO of the free-speech video platform Rumble, revealed that he quickly left Europe after Durov’s detention due to threats from the French government against his company.
During the backlash, French President Emmanuel Macron denied that Durov’s arrest was politically motivated. He also rejected claims that he personally invited Durov to France before the incident. Despite these assurances, many people in the crypto and free speech communities are still very skeptical, and see the arrest as part of a broader struggle between decentralized platforms and state-controlled regulatory measures.
James Howells’ Bitcoin Recovery Appeal Denied
Roger Ver and Pavel Durov are not the only ones with their hands full legally. A UK man’s long-running battle to recover a lost hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin suffered yet another setback after the UK Court of Appeal rejected his bid for a permit to search a landfill.
James Howells shared the news on March 14, and is very frustrated with what he called “The Great British Injustice System.” After the court’s decision, Howells announced his plan to take his case to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and argued that his right to property and a fair trial had been violated.
The latest rejection came from Judge Christopher Nugee, who ruled that Howells' appeal had no “real prospect of success” and that there was no compelling reason to hear the case. This followed a similar decision in January by High Court Judge Andrew Keyser, who dismissed the case on the same grounds. Despite these rulings, Howells is still very determined to fight for the right to search the Newport landfill.
James Howells is a British IT worker who is best known for accidentally discarding a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin in 2013. The hard drive ended up in a landfill in Newport, Wales, and its current estimated value is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. After realizing his mistake, Howells spent years trying to recover the lost Bitcoin by proposing large-scale excavation projects to search for the drive. However, local authorities have repeatedly denied him permission to dig up the landfill, and his story is one of the most famous cases of lost cryptocurrency wealth.
James Howell
With Bitcoin now trading above $83,000, his lost holdings are worth approximately $660 million, making it one of the most valuable misplaced crypto fortunes in history. While few anticipated Bitcoin’s meteoric rise at the time of his loss, Howells' situation proves just how important it is to securely manage self-custodied digital assets.
The clock is ticking on his legal options, and reports indicate that the landfill is set to close during the UK’s 2025-2026 financial year. Although the ECHR cannot overturn UK court rulings, a favorable decision could push the courts to reconsider their stance. Howells has vowed not to give up, and insisted that he will continue his fight “no matter how long it takes.”
