The United States government is encountering difficulties in locating Richard Heart, the crypto founder accused of orchestrating an illegal securities scheme worth $1 billion.
The United States government is encountering difficulties in locating Richard Heart, the crypto founder accused of orchestrating an illegal securities scheme worth $1 billion. In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Heart, also known as Richard Schueler, with violating securities laws by promoting and selling his cryptocurrency, Hex. However, the SEC recently informed a federal judge that serving Heart with the legal proceedings has proven unsuccessful.
According to the SEC, Heart is believed to be residing in Helsinki, Finland. Despite attempts to serve him through the Finnish Ministry of Justice, the SEC has not received any confirmation of successful service in the past three months. It remains uncertain whether this challenge arises from the Finnish government's lack of cooperation or the overall difficulty in locating Heart.
Heart has maintained a secretive approach concerning his whereabouts. Even when featured in a documentary about Hex, he intentionally concealed the location of his residence and conducted interviews in a concealed underground facility. However, Heart has not completely vanished from public view. In the days since the SEC acknowledged its inability to locate him, Heart has actively posted on Twitter without revealing his location or acknowledging the US government's search.
Although Heart has not yet faced criminal charges, his situation bears similarities to other crypto founders who encountered legal consequences. Heart's tweeted a long list of individuals who faced imprisonment or bankruptcy after opposing him, emphasizing his belief in his own innocence.
While Heart's current whereabouts remain unknown, historical precedent suggests that crypto founders facing legal challenges eventually get apprehended. Terra founder Do Kwon and Three Arrows Capital founder Su Zhu, who sought refuge abroad to evade criminal charges, were eventually captured. Kwon is presently serving a prison sentence in Montenegro and is likely to face further legal proceedings in the US or South Korea, whereas Zhu is currently incarcerated in Singapore.
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