Hex Founder Richard Heart Detained in Istanbul on Interpol Red Notice: Report
Key Takeaways
- •Richard Heart, the founder of the cryptocurrency Hex, was detained in Istanbul alongside his wife in a joint operation by Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization acting on an Interpol Red Notice.
- •During the operation, officers seized a dozen mobile phones, laptops, graphics cards, rifles, pistols, two drones, gold bracelets, and large amounts of cash in multiple currencies.
- •Finland requested the 2024 Interpol Red Notice, which lists a single charge of aggravated tax fraud, though Finnish authorities have also sought Heart over an alleged assault.
- •The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission previously charged Heart with unregistered offerings that raised over $1 billion and misappropriating at least $12 million of investor funds, but a federal judge dismissed the case in February 2025 for lack of jurisdiction.
- •It remains unclear whether Finland has requested Heart's extradition from Turkey, and the aggravated tax fraud allegation behind the Red Notice was still outstanding at the time of his detention.
Turkish police and intelligence officers have detained Richard Heart, the founder of the cryptocurrency Hex, in Istanbul, acting on an Interpol Red Notice, Daily Sabah reportedhttps://www.dailysabah.com/business/tech/turkiye-nabs-interpol-wanted-crypto-fugitive-in-istanbul-operation) on Wednesday, citing Turkish news agency IHA.
Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, was taken into custody along with his wife on Wednesday morning in a joint 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 detention.
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.
[Interpol issued the Red Notice for Heart in 2024 at Finland's request. 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. The notice lists a single charge, aggravated tax fraud, though Finnish authorities have also sought Heart over an alleged assault. Daily Sabah described the notice as relating to high-value cryptocurrency fraud.
It was not immediately clear whether Finnish authorities have requested Heart's extradition from Turkey.
Heart and Hex
Heart launched Hex in 2018, marketing it as a high-yield "blockchain certificate of deposit."
In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 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. The regulator 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 SEC's 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."
The Finnish charges behind the Red Notice are separate from the dismissed SEC case, leaving the aggravated tax-fraud allegation outstanding at the time of his detention.
