Turkish media report that Richard Heart, founder of HEX, PulseChain and PulseX, was detained in a dawn raid on October 14 at a home in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district. His legal name is Richard James Schueler. His wife was reportedly taken into custody as well. The operation was reportedly carried out by Turkey’s intelligence agency MIT and Istanbul police. At the time of writing, neither Turkish nor Finnish authorities had publicly confirmed the arrest.
🔴 “BALİNA JAMES” İŞTE BÖYLE GÖZALTINA ALINDI.
— Çağdaş Evren Şenlik (@CagdasEvren) October 14, 2026
📌 Interpol tarafından kırmızı bülteyle aranan, “Balina James” lakaplı Richard James SCHUELER, İstanbul Beşiktaş’ta düzenlenen operasyonla eşiyle birlikte yakalandı.
📌 MİT destekli operasyonda 600 bin dolar, 24 saat, 20 altın bileklik, 3 tabanca ve 4 uzun namlulu tüfek ele geçirildi.
📌 ABD’de 1,5 milyar dolarlık fonu zimmetine geçirmekle suçlanan şüphelinin adresinde, kripto para faaliyetlerinde kullanıldığı değerlendirilen bilgisayarlar ve çok sayıda dijital materyal bulundu.
📌 Şüphelinin İstanbul merkezli bir ağ üzerinden ABD, Finlandiya ve İspanya’da uluslararası kripto para dolandırıcılığı gerçekleştirdiği iddiasına ilişkin tahkikat sürüyor.
Heart has been wanted under an Interpol Red Notice since December 2024, issued at Finland’s request. Finnish police suspect him of aggravated tax evasion, reportedly involving several hundred million euros between June 2020 and April 2024, and of assault involving a minor. He has not been convicted of either matter. The tweet above refers to alleged embezzlement of $1.5 billion in the US, but the outlets cited below describe the Finnish case instead.
Reports on the seized items differ. Outlets mention cash, dozens of luxury watches, firearms, gold bracelets and computers, but the cash amounts range from roughly $600,000 to $4 million and none has been independently verified.
The US SEC sued Heart in 2023 over alleged unregistered token sales, but a judge dismissed the case in 2025 over insufficient US jurisdictional ties, which was not a ruling on the merits. BeInCrypto reported that PulseChain’s PLS fell about 44% over 24 hours, while HEX rose 3.9%. Extradition to Finland is reportedly under consideration, but no formal request has been made public.
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Sources:
- BeInCrypto: Crypto Executive Arrested in Istanbul With Millions and Guns
- Bitcoin.com News: HEX Founder Richard Heart Reportedly Arrested in Istanbul Dawn Police Raid
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