Background
Who is Paul Bilzerian?
Paul Alec Bilzerian (born 1950) is a former corporate raider and one-time chairman and CEO of Singer Corporation. In 1989 he was convicted on nine felony counts—criminal conspiracy, making false statements, securities fraud, tax fraud, and securities law violations—and sentenced to four years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
After his conviction, the SEC won a civil judgment against him. He was ordered to disgorge tens of millions in illegal profits; with interest, that debt has grown to approximately $180 million. He claimed poverty, declared bankruptcy twice, and moved to St. Kitts and Nevis to escape U.S. jurisdiction. He also obtained Armenian citizenship.
In September 2024, a federal grand jury indicted him again—along with his accountant and a company—for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, and for hiding assets in shell corporations to avoid paying his SEC judgment.
Crimes in the USA
Exhibit A
The 1989 conviction
Bilzerian was indicted in December 1988 by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The government alleged he used illegal “stock parking” with Jefferies & Company—temporary transfers to hide ownership—and filed false Schedule 13D disclosure statements to conceal his stakes in takeover targets including Cluett Peabody and Hammermill Paper Company. In June 1989 a jury found him guilty on all nine felony counts. The judge sentenced him to four years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, saying: “In short, he lies.”
Exhibit B
The SEC civil judgment
In 1993 a federal judge ordered Bilzerian to disgorge over $33 million in profits plus interest—about $62 million total. With interest over the decades, he now owes the SEC approximately $180 million. The SEC spent roughly $8 million pursuing him and recovered only about $3 million. He claimed he had no assets (“used clothing, a used Casio watch”), while the SEC alleged he hid wealth in trusts and shell corporations. A judge held him in civil contempt and appointed a receiver; the FBI raided his family’s residence. He eventually moved to St. Kitts.
Exhibit C
The 2024 federal indictment
In September 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Paul A. Bilzerian, his longtime accountant Scott Rohleder, and Ignite International Brands Ltd. were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud. Prosecutors allege that from at least 2018 they hid tens of millions of dollars through shell corporations and funneled money into Ignite—a company ostensibly run by his son—to evade paying the SEC judgment. A jury trial for Rohleder and Ignite was scheduled for May 2025. Bilzerian has been described as “Saint Kitts–based” and a “recidivist” in SEC and DOJ filings.
DOJ case page (Central District of California) · DOJ press release
The scam against Roger Ver
Roger Ver (“Bitcoin Jesus”) invested approximately $50 million in a stem cell center venture with Paul Bilzerian, and additional millions in Ignite. In a recorded meeting in St. Kitts and Nevis in January 2026, Bilzerian admitted that only a fraction of that money was used for the stem cell center—and that the rest was diverted without Roger’s knowledge or permission.
What Bilzerian admitted on the record
Only ~$15M of $50M went to the stem cell center; the other $35M is a “loan to II”
Roger Ver: So I do have a question, so I put 50 million into the stem cell investment, how much of it do you think actually was used for the stem cell center to date?
Paul Bilzerian: About 15 million.
Roger Ver: 15 of the 50, and where's the other 35 today?
Paul Bilzerian: The 35 is a loan to II [International Investments].
Roger Ver’s Lawyer on the loan; Paul Bilzerian: “I’ll apologize till the day I’m buried in the ground”
Roger Ver's Lawyer: Okay, so like respectfully, from Roger's position, you know, had he been asked to make a loan in that position, he might not have wanted to make a market rate loan, he might have asked for equity or something.
Paul Bilzerian: Right
Roger Ver's Lawyer: You know, so.
Paul Bilzerian: Look, I've apologized, I'll apologize till the day I'm buried in the ground.
After Roger demands loan docs
Paul Bilzerian: And I appreciate all your demands, Roger, okay, you do have people who are working for you for nothing, okay, and who have been for the entire time, just keep that in mind, okay, we're not the people on your payroll, okay, you haven't given us a penny.
Roger Ver: I gave you 80 million dollars, Paul.
Paul Bilzerian: You invested 80 million.
Roger Ver: Okay, and so now I'm asking you for my investment.
Paul Bilzerian: If I've even taken 100,000 of it, okay.
Roger Ver: You just admitted you used 35 million of it, I didn't approve.
Paul Bilzerian: I didn't use shit, okay.
Blaming Roger
Paul Bilzerian: And I think that's right, and so I'm just saying that you can't not pay any attention for eight years, and then suddenly, okay, turn around and flip that around to say, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this.
(later in the conversation)
Roger Ver: Anyhow, we'd love, we'd love to see, you know, what IIC [International Investments] has available to pay back the stem cell center, or me, or however we figure it out, like, if I'm easy to deal with, I just want to see—
Paul Bilzerian: You're actually not easy to deal with at all, okay, for eight years, you were easy to deal with, okay. Since December 11th—
Roger Ver's Lawyer: When he wasn't asking questions he was easy to deal with.
Roger Ver: “Do you acknowledge how big a deal it is?” Paul Bilzerian: “On my grandchildren’s lives, I acknowledge it.”
Roger Ver: Paul, I'm sorry, do you acknowledge to how big a deal it is that you didn't tell me you used $35 million of stem cell money for Ignite without telling me?
Paul Bilzerian: On my grandchildren's lives, I acknowledge it.
Roger Ver: Okay, thank you.
Paul Bilzerian: But I've only acknowledged it about 10 times. I mean, I don't know how many more you want me to acknowledge.
Paul Bilzerian: the money won’t make a difference in Roger’s life
Paul Bilzerian: Roger, the difference between you and me money doesn't mean anything to me. Okay, that's the difference. Okay, I wouldn't sell out a friend for a billion dollars. And anybody who knows me knows that… So money doesn't mean shit to me. I haven't taken a penny out of anything… So, so what. But I know it means obviously, a lot to you, okay? And it means so much to you that you were willing to take our friendship and put it down a rat hole, okay, for money that is going to make a goddamn bit of difference in your life, okay? That was incredibly painful to me.
Paul Bilzerian: …for money that is going to make a goddamn bit of difference in your life, okay?
Summary: About $50M was invested in the stem cell center. Only ~$15M was used for that purpose. ~$35M was redirected as a “loan” to International Investments and used to support Ignite. The redirection was done without disclosure to Roger Ver. Paul Bilzerian personally orchestrated it and has repeatedly acknowledged and apologized for not telling him. These facts are relevant to fraud, fiduciary duty, and misappropriation.
St. Kitts: prosecute or extradite
Paul Bilzerian has been described as Saint Kitts–based. He moved there in an attempt to avoid U.S. jurisdiction and has lived there while owing the SEC approximately $180 million and is now facing a U.S. federal indictment for conspiracy and fraud.
Saint Kitts and Nevis has an extradition treaty with the United States (in force since 2000). In 2025, the country passed an Extradition Bill that modernizes its law and explicitly includes fraud-related offenses as extraditable—including fraudulent conversion, false accounting, and obtaining property by false pretences. The update is intended to prevent the country from being a safe haven for fugitives and to safeguard its Citizenship by Investment program.
We call on the government of St. Kitts and Nevis to either prosecute Paul Bilzerian for any fraud or related crimes committed in St. Kitts, or to extradite him to the United States so he can face the 2024 federal charges and the SEC’s enforcement of its judgment. Do not allow your country to shelter a recidivist who has evaded justice for decades while continuing to promulgate crimes.
References
Sources
- United States v. Paul A. Bilzerian, Scott Rohleder, and Ignite International Brands, Ltd. (U.S. DOJ, Central District of California)
- DOJ press release (Sept 2024)
- Paul Bilzerian (Wikipedia)
- OffshoreAlert: Saint Kitts–based Paul Bilzerian indicted / SEC suit
- MarketWatch: Paul Bilzerian avoided $180M fine for over 30 years
- Fraud-relevant statements from the recorded meeting between Paul Bilzerian and Roger Ver, St. Kitts, January 2026.