We await the court's decision
Hello, my name is Ilja Borisovs, aka Shvembldr. I am a generative artist from Riga. I am a Latvian citizen, and my personal (and taxpayer) code is 150882-10311. I am one of the world’s most financially successful NFT artists in 2021.
-> All case updates here <-On February 10, 2022, my normal life ended, and all hell broke loose. All of my property was arrested by Latvian police without a single notice. They refused to contact me, acting illegally and unprofessionally. I lost the ability to pay bills, legalize my income, pay taxes, and make purchases, and no one explained why. Only three months later, I managed to find out that I am the subject of criminal proceedings for alleged money laundering through an elaborate illegal scheme. I have not broken a single law, acting transparently and honestly. I did not hide my income and paid all the necessary taxes. For this, I was treated worse than a criminal and deprived of the opportunity to defend myself. Apparently, it is a crime to be an artist in Latvia.
This website contains all the information about my activities as an artist and the progress of the criminal case against me. Thanks to this data, anyone can be convinced that I have always conducted my business honestly and have not violated a single law, while the Latvian police have deliberately violated and continue to violate law against me, showing a biased and unfair attitude and refusing to communicate with me.
Now, thanks to the actions of the police, I can't pay my taxes. The police believe that my money was earned by illegal means, and the tax authorities believe that I have to pay taxes from that income and charge a daily fine for not paying on time. I have officially declared a debtor, and all my property is subject to forfeiture. The police do not care about this. This is how they deal with those who want to do good for their state in Latvia.
All of my property has been seized already for 1024 days.
My current tax debt to the state: 3 124 205,92 EUR
The current fine is: 892 614,21 EUR
This is the maximum possible fine under the law. It is so huge because my case was deliberately delayed.
Most artists have failed to make their profession their primary source of income for centuries. But blockchain has allowed artists to control the distribution of their art and earn as the value of their art grows. Unfortunately, there will always be people who want to stand in the way of progress and are ready to stifle all good initiatives. I hope my story helps change that.
In 2021:
- The number of NFTs I released on the Ethereum network
- 3557
- The number of ETH I received in 2021
- 4253Ξ
- The sum in EUR withdrawn from Coinbase to SEB bank
- 8 700 000 €
- Social tax in 2021
- 870 576 €
- Annual income tax in 2021
- 2 231 591 €
- The total amount of my taxes in Latvia
- 3 102 167 €
Since the publication of this site, the Latvian police have kept this case online: I will be posting all new information about the case here and on my Twitter feed. You will be able to follow the twists and turns of the story and empathize with the participants. But the best thing you can do is share this story with others.