Turkish officials have confirmed the arrest of Richard Heart, founder of the cryptocurrency token HEX, in Istanbul following a coordinated police operation. Investigators seized $7.15 million in cash, six cryptocurrency cold wallets, and an extensive collection of luxury items during searches carried out across several districts of the city. The case pulls together legal threads spanning the United States and Finland, where the founder has faced both civil securities claims and criminal charges.

Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced the detention on October 17. According to the minister, officers arrested Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, together with his wife on October 14 in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. Police subsequently detained three alleged bodyguards in connection with the case. The arrests followed an INTERPOL notice requested by Finnish authorities, who have been pursuing the founder in their own case.

Gürlek announced the operation in a post on X:

TÜRKİYE, SINIR AŞAN SUÇLARIN VE ARANAN ŞÜPHELİLERİN SIĞINAĞI OLMAYACAKTIR! Ülkemizin suç işlediği iddiasıyla aranan kişilerin sığınabileceği bir yer hâline gelmemesi, uluslararası düzeyde aranan kişilerin yakalanması ve adaletten kaçmalarının önlenmesi için güvenlik ve… — Akın Gürlek (@abakingurlek) October 17, 2026

How Turkish Authorities Carried Out the Operation

Istanbul's prosecutor coordinated the operation through the intelligence and money laundering departments. Turkey's national intelligence agency, known as MİT, was also involved in the investigation, according to the minister's announcement. Heart had been discovered in Istanbul before the arrests took place, and Gürlek attributed the successful action to the apprehension of international fugitives. Arrest teams carried out searches at 15 locations in the Beşiktaş, Üsküdar, and Sarıyer districts of the city.

What Investigators Seized During the Searches

Police recovered $7.15 million in cash alongside 160,000 Turkish liras. Investigators also confiscated six cold wallets, devices used to keep cryptocurrency access information offline. Authorities were unable to reveal the amounts stored in the six seized wallets.

The inventory of luxury and personal items included 28 watches, 97 jewelry items, 300 bags, 100 pairs of shoes, and 136 pairs of glasses. Electronic equipment taken into custody comprised 29 mobile phones, 12 laptops, 19 graphics cards, 19 storage drives, 46 USB drives, and 11 computer cases.

The searches also uncovered four long-barreled rifles, three illegally held pistols, and 1,400 rounds of ammunition. According to Gürlek, investigations into the seized materials remain ongoing.

According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, police additionally seized nine cars belonging to Heart's wife. Earlier reports had pointed to lower amounts of cash and fewer watches than the figures confirmed by the minister.

Why Heart Was Sought Internationally

The arrest followed an INTERPOL Red Notice filed at Finland's request in December 2024. Finnish police had been seeking Heart on charges of gross tax evasion and assault. According to Gürlek, the case is connected to an alleged fraud worth $1 billion spanning the United States and Finland. Those assertions come from the minister and do not constitute proof of criminal conviction.

An INTERPOL Red Notice is a request to locate and arrest a wanted individual; it does not by itself amount to an international arrest warrant. INTERPOL describes such notices as issued at member countries' request, with police in each country deciding how to act under their own laws. The minister did not say whether Turkey has received an extradition request in the case. Court proceedings in the underlying matters remain ongoing.

What Happened to the Previous US SEC Case

Heart was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 over the sales of HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX. The regulator alleged the unregistered sale of securities and the misappropriation of funds from investors, including claims that at least $12 million was diverted for personal luxury spending.

In February 2025, a U.S. federal judge dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction; the ruling did not determine the truthfulness of the allegations. In April 2025, the SEC declined to file an amended complaint, ending the U.S. civil case while the Finnish accusations remained open.

How HEX Reacted to the Detention

The detention coincided with a decline in the Ethereum-backed HEX token. Market data published for October 17 showed the token falling roughly 14 percent over a 24-hour period, based on CoinGecko figures. That number represents a snapshot rather than an official closing figure.

Heart founded HEX in 2019 and subsequently created the PulseChain blockchain and the PulseX token. The minister's announcement did not address how those projects would be managed while their founder is detained, leaving the question of day-to-day oversight open. Turkish authorities are still evaluating the evidence seized in the searches, and no decision on extradition has been made. The principal open questions going forward are whether Finland files a formal extradition request, what investigators conclude about the seized cold wallets and devices, and how the Finnish case advances in court.