The world's largest international law enforcement agency, Interpol, has issued an arrest warrant for Hex cryptocurrency founder Richard Schuller on charges of tax evasion and extortion.
Interpol has issued a red notice to Shuler, better known in crypto circles as Richard Hurt, “to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action by law enforcement agencies around the world.” Still the question remains, the organization said: “A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant.
Byron Boston, a former Dallas police officer and CEO of CryptoTrac, told Decrypt that “Interpol's red notice shows international cooperation in crypto-related crimes such as fraud and tax evasion.”
Boston added: “The announcement encourages international cooperation and demonstrates the desire of law enforcement to make law enforcement accountable for financial crimes, which will improve investigations into projects.”
Schueler founded Hex, a cryptocurrency high-yield “blockchain certificate of deposit” for the market, with his token being investigated as a potential unregistered security. Schuller was accused of misappropriating $12 million in luxury goods and promoting unrealistic returns.
The SEC said Hex failed the Hawaii test, qualifying it as a security, and the token's value has dropped 98.4% from its peak. The regulator sued Schuler in the summer of 2023 along with three unaffiliated entities: Pulsechain, PulseX and Hex.
“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.
Schuller found himself on Europe's most-wanted fugitive list, where more details about his alleged crimes were listed. According to the details, they “physically assaulted the 16-year-old victim by pulling her hair, dragging her down the stairs and knocking her to the ground.”
He is also being investigated for tax evasion between June 2020 and April 2024. According to Finnish public broadcaster Yil, the announcement comes three months after an arrest warrant was issued against Schuller in September.
Shueler remains active on Twitter. On Saturday, he shared a post addressing his “haters,” saying, “Nothing annoys haters more than success.” The post has received over 263,000 views so far.
“I do what I can to make the world a better place,” he wrote, “and I have to say, the world can be unkind to people who make a difference.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward.
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