Finnish police seized over $2.6 million worth of luxury watches from Hex founder Richard Shueler (aka Richard Heart.)
Finland’s national broadcaster Yleisradio Oy (yell) reported Yesterday, local law enforcement seized 20 luxury watches (most of which were Rolexes) from Shueler, who is wanted nationwide for tax evasion. The items — worth a total of $2.68 million — were left at a residence in Espoo, according to a translated copy of the report.
Schueler founded Hex, a cryptocurrency marketed as a high-yield “blockchain certificate of deposit.” The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating his tokens as potential unregistered securities. Schueler is also accused of misappropriating $12 million on luxury goods and promoting unrealistic returns.
The round-the-clock news follows reports at the end of December that Interpol, the world’s largest international law enforcement organization, issued an arrest warrant for Schueler on tax fraud and assault charges. The man allegedly “physically abused a 16-year-old victim by grabbing their hair, dragging them into the stairwell and knocking them to the ground.”
Many of the watches were bought in Finland while others were bought in the USA. Harri Saaristola, the detective in charge of investigating Shueler, said police were able to trace the goods through intelligence agencies.
The US SEC claims that Hex fails the Howey test, which qualifies it as a security. It notes that its token value has plummeted 98.4% from its peak. The regulator charged Schueler and three unincorporated entities, PulseChain, PulseX and Hex, in summer 2023.
“Heart began marketing Hex in 2018, claiming it was the first high-yield ‘blockchain certificate,’ and began marketing Hex tokens as an investment designed to make people ‘rich,'” the SEC’s complaint reads. This summer, he filed a motion to dismiss case, claiming he raised over $1 billion through unregistered securities sales connected to his Hex startup.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
