Interpol Issues Red Notice for Hex Founder Richard Heart

Interpol, the international policing organization, has issued a Red Notice for Hex and PulseChain founder Richard Schueler, known in the crypto community as Richard Heart.

Finnish police are seeking Schueler for tax evasion and assault on a minor. Schueler is an American citizen, according to the notice.

A Red Notice requests authorities worldwide to detain a suspect for possible extradition. A Red Notice provides no legal standing to arrest a suspect; any action taken depends on the law in a particular country.

Europol, an EU policing body, provided more details, alleging that Schueler failed to file taxes or provide accurate information, adding that the “total amount of tax avoided is counted in hundreds of millions of euros.”

Schueler is on Europol’s most wanted list.

It also alleges that he beat up a 16-year-old, knocking them to the ground and punching them “four or five times in the face, nose, eyes and head area.”

The report added that the victim suffered “pain, broken facial skin, bleeding and swelling in the facial area. In addition, the victim's clothes were covered in blood.”

While Schueler has not directly addressed the charges, he posted an angry screed on X on Dec. 21.

Claiming he raised $27 million for charity, Schueler said, “Nothing makes haters angrier than success... It's easier for them to tear down others than to rise up themselves.”

SEC Lawsuit

Schueler is also embroiled in a lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sued him over three allegedly unregistered securities offerings and fraud in July 2023.

Specifically, the SEC alleges Schueler illegally “raised more than $1 billion in crypto assets from investors” and fraudulently misappropriated “at least $12 million of offering proceeds to purchase luxury goods including sports cars, watches, and a 555-carat black diamond known as ‘The Enigma’ – reportedly the largest black diamond in the world.”

The suit is over three tokens. The first is Hex (HEX), which the SEC says was described as a “high-yield ‘blockchain certificate of deposit.’” Then there is PulseChain (PLS), an Ethereum competitor, and its decentralized exchange, PulseX (PLSX).