Finnish police have seized more than $2.6 million worth of luxury watches from Hex founder Richard Schuler (also known as Richard Hurt).
Finland's national broadcaster Yelaisradio Oi (Yale) reported yesterday that local law enforcement had seized 20 luxury watches (most of them Rolex) from Schuller, 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 transcript 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 its token as unregistered securities. Schuler was accused of misappropriating $12 million in luxury goods and advertising false income.
Interpol, the world's largest international law enforcement agency, filed an arrest warrant for Schuller on charges of tax evasion and assault following news reports in late December. The man allegedly “physically assaulted a 16-year-old boy by pulling his hair, dragging him up the stairs and knocking him to the ground.”
Many of the watches were purchased in Finland, while others were purchased in the United States. Detective Harry Saristola, who investigated Shuler, said police were able to trace the items through intelligence.
The US SEC qualified Hex as a safety, as he failed the Hawaii test. The token value is down 98.4% from its peak. The regulator sued Shuler and three unaffiliated entities, PulseChain, PulseX and Hex, in the summer of 2023.
“Heart began marketing Hex in 2018, the first high-yield ‘blockchain certificate of deposit', and the Hex token began promoting an investment designed to make people ‘rich,'” read the SEC complaint. Hex filed a motion to dismiss this summer, saying it raised more than $1 billion in unregistered securities sales related to its startup.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
Daily Debrief Newspaper
Start every day with top news stories, plus original features, podcasts, videos and more.
