Hex founder Richard Heart detained in Turkey; police seize $7.15 million in cash

Richard Heart, the founder of Hex (HEX) and PulseChain whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, has been detained in Istanbul, Turkey's Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on X on Oct. 17. "Turkey will not become a haven for transnational crimes and wanted suspects," Gürlek wrote. Police searched 15 addresses, including his home, and seized $7.15 million in cash and six cold wallets, or crypto wallets kept offline.

Detained at home in Beşiktaş with his wife

According to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, the operation was led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and carried out by the Istanbul police intelligence and financial crimes units together with the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Heart and his wife were detained on the morning of Oct. 14 at their home in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district. Three more people, reported to be his bodyguards, were later taken into custody. Searches covered 15 addresses across the Beşiktaş, Üsküdar and Sarıyer districts.

The seizure list Gürlek released goes well beyond $7.15 million, 160,000 Turkish lira and six cold wallets. It includes 300 bags, 100 pairs of shoes, 136 pairs of glasses, 28 watches, 97 pieces of jewelry, 29 phones, 12 laptops and 19 graphics cards. Police also found four long-barreled rifles, three unlicensed pistols and 1,400 rounds of ammunition. Anadolu reported that nine vehicles registered to his wife were towed and impounded. Gürlek said judicial proceedings against the suspects and analysis of the seized materials were ongoing.

On the day of the arrest, Turkish media put the seized cash at $4 million and the watches at 64, but the figures the minister released three days later were $7.15 million in cash and 28 watches. Turkish daily Daily Sabah reported on Oct. 14 that police located the Beşiktaş address after technical and physical surveillance, and that two drones and gold bracelets were also found.

1. July 31, 2023U.S. SEC sues Heart, Hex, PulseChain and PulseX over unregistered securities offerings
2. Dec. 18, 2024Added to Europol's most wanted list on a Finnish warrant; Interpol Red Notice reported around the same time
3. Feb. 28, 2025U.S. court dismisses the SEC case for lack of jurisdiction
4. Oct. 14, 2026Detained with his wife in Beşiktaş, Istanbul
5. Oct. 17, 2026Turkey's justice minister discloses the arrest and seizures

The $1 billion stems from the SEC case; the Red Notice concerns Finnish tax allegations

Anadolu reported that Heart was the subject of a Red Notice over an alleged $1 billion crypto fraud in the U.S. and Finland. The two matters are different, however. The $1 billion figure comes from the SEC's 2023 lawsuit. The SEC alleged that Heart raised more than $1 billion in crypto assets through unregistered offerings of Hex starting in December 2019 and of PulseChain and PulseX in 2021–2022, and that he misappropriated at least $12 million to buy luxury goods including sports cars, watches and a 555-carat black diamond known as "The Enigma."

That case is over. Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed it in February 2025, finding the SEC had failed to establish U.S. jurisdiction, and the SEC dropped the case in April without filing an amended complaint. The Red Notice was requested by Finland. Europol's most wanted listing accuses him of failing to file business tax returns for several years, avoiding hundreds of millions of euros in tax, and of assaulting a 16-year-old. Gürlek did not say whether Turkey had received an extradition request from Finland or the U.S.

Interpol describes a Red Notice as "a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action." It is based on a warrant from the requesting country but is not itself an arrest warrant, so the country that detains the person decides how to proceed under its own law.

Not listed on Korean won markets

Hex is a token Heart launched on Ethereum in 2019. It became known for its staking design, in which holders lock up coins for a set period in exchange for interest. Heart later created PulseChain (PLS), a separate blockchain modeled on Ethereum. U.S. crypto outlet The Block, citing CoinGecko data, reported that Hex fell about 14% over 24 hours on the day of the minister's announcement.

As of the morning of Oct. 18 KST, neither Hex nor PulseChain was listed on the Korean won markets of Upbit or Bithumb. Korean investors holding the tokens would have bought them through overseas exchanges or decentralized exchanges (DEXs). The Block said it had reached out for comment to David Kirk, Heart's attorney in the SEC case, and to Helsinki police.