In brief
- Turkish police and intelligence officers detained Hex founder Richard Heart in Istanbul on Wednesday, Turkish media reported, acting on an Interpol Red Notice.
- Finland sought the notice in 2024 on a charge of aggravated tax fraud, and Heart was detained along with his wife, according to the reports.
- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Heart in 2023 of raising more than $1 billion in unregistered crypto offerings, but later dropped the case.
Turkish authorities have detained Richard Heart, the founder of the Hex cryptocurrency, in Istanbul on an Interpol Red Notice, Daily Sabah reported on Wednesday, citing Turkish news agency IHA.
Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, was detained with his wife on Wednesday morning in an operation by Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT), according to the report. Police had monitored his address in the city's Beşiktaş district before the arrest.
Officers seized a dozen mobile phones, several laptops, graphics cards, rifles, pistols, two drones, gold bracelets and a large amount of cash in different currencies, IHA reported.
A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition or similar legal action, and is not an international arrest warrant. Interpol issued the notice for Heart in 2024 at the request of Finland. The notice lists a single charge, aggravated tax fraud, though Finnish authorities have also sought him over an alleged assault. Daily Sabah described the notice as relating to high-value cryptocurrency fraud.
Heart and Hex
Heart launched Hex in 2018, marketing it as a high-yield "blockchain certificate of deposit."
In 2023, the SEC charged Heart and three entities he controlled, Hex, PulseChain and PulseX, with conducting unregistered offerings of crypto asset securities that raised more than $1 billion. It also accused him of misappropriating at least $12 million of investor funds to buy luxury goods, including sports cars, watches and a 555-carat black diamond known as "The Enigma."
A federal judge dismissed the complaint in February 2025 for lack of jurisdiction, finding that Heart's activities were not clearly aimed at U.S. investors. The SEC declined to amend it by an April deadline, ending the case, which Heart's lawyer called "a complete victory."
It was not immediately clear whether Finnish authorities have requested Heart's extradition from Turkey.