Richard Heart, the founder of HEX and PulseChain, has reportedly been detained in Istanbul following an operation involving Turkish police and the country’s intelligence agency.
Authorities have not confirmed whether he is still in custody or being extradited.
Turkish media report Istanbul detention
Heart was arrested in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district on October 14, Ihlas News Agency reported, cited by Turkish Daily Sabah.
Heart’s full name, legally, is Richard James Schueler, and the operation has been tied to an Interpol Red Notice coming from Finland.
Heart and his legal team were also silent, not yet releasing a statement that confirms this. The Turkish prosecutors, Finland’s police, and Interpol also had no statements out at the time of this writing verifying these claims.
The reports of the items seized in the raid varied wildly – some claiming authorities had found $600,000 and others up to $4 million. The number of watches recovered also changed.
As there is no official inventory, these figures cannot be substantiated independently.
Why Finland was looking for Heart
The Finnish case dates back to 2024 and concerns suspected aggravated tax fraud and assault.
Finnish broadcaster Yle reported that a court remanded Heart in custody in his absence in September 2024. Police suspected that his tax filings did not match the income assessed by Finland’s Tax Administration.
Heart allegedly committed this tax conduct from June 2020 at the earliest to April 2024 at the latest. Police told Yle that there was a lot of money involved and the tax issue appeared to have continued over several years. Heart was not convicted of these allegations.
This Finnish investigation is also a completely separate one from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s case connected to HEX, PulseChain, and PulseX.
A US judge dismissed that lawsuit in February 2005. They found that the SEC had not established enough links between the alleged conduct of the officials and the United States, and the ruling had been on jurisdiction, not the Finnish allegations.
Final Summary
- It has not been confirmed whether Heart is still imprisoned or whether he has been extradited yet either.
- No Official Inventory of the property, money, watches, and other seized property.