A notorious crypto scammer alleged to have conned people in multiple countries out of millions of dollars was arrested at a luxury residence in Istanbul, Turkey.
Turkish police and intelligence agents arrested Richard Heart, born Richard James Schueler, in a dawn raid. Investigators reportedly tracked down Heart by tracing millions of dollars in suspicious crypto activity to an IP address in the city. The HEX and Pulse founder was already the subject of an Interpol red notice tied to aggravated tax fraud allegations in Finland.
Here's what to know
According to CoinGeek, which cited outlets including Daily Sabah, Haberler, and Euronews, Istanbul police and Turkey's National Intelligence Organization arrested both Heart and his wife during the raid.
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Per CoinGeek, Haberler reported that police believe Heart "established an Istanbul-based international fraud network" with victims in the United States, Finland, and Spain.
Before the October raid, investigators from the Istanbul Police Department's Intelligence Branch and Anti-Financial Crimes Branch said they had tied an Istanbul IP address to allegedly "suspicious" wallet activity involving millions of dollars in tokens. Officials collaborated with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to trace the transactions.
The search of Heart's luxury residence turned up 12 mobile phones, several laptops, four rifles, three handguns, drones, gold jewelry, and dozens of luxury watches, according to CoinGeek.
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Law enforcement also seized large sums of cash in several different currencies, though accounts differed on the amount. Euronews reported that officials discovered $600,000 in cash while Haberler reported a $4 million figure, CoinGeek relayed.
Heart became widely known in crypto circles through HEX and Pulse, as well as through social media posts showcasing luxury goods. These ostentatious online displays of wealth were intended to entice people to invest in his crypto schemes.
Wanted by multiple countries
By the time of the Istanbul raid, Heart was already facing legal trouble in Finland and the United States. In addition to the Finnish tax fraud allegations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Heart in July 2023, alleging he misappropriated "at least $12 million" raised from HEX customers.
A U.S. federal judge threw out that case in February 2025 after concluding that the SEC had not established sufficient U.S. contact to justify the court having jurisdiction. The dismissal showed how cross-border token projects can create enforcement challenges when allegations surface in multiple countries at once.
What happens next?
Turkish authorities appear to be treating the matter as a coordinated financial-crime investigation rather than a routine arrest.
The National Intelligence Organization worked alongside city police, and intelligence and anti-financial-crimes units had already traced wallet activity ahead of the raid.
The next major question is whether Turkey moves first with its own prosecution or whether Finnish authorities seek Heart's return.
In describing the Finland case, a Helsinki detective said Heart owed a "very considerable amount of money" to the country's tax agency because he had "created, launched and marketed the cryptocurrencies out of Finland" between 2020 and 2024, according to CoinGeek.
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