HEX Founder Richard Heart Reportedly Detained in Istanbul as Tokens Plunge

Turkish media reported on October 14, 2026 that Richard Heart, the founder of the HEX and PulseChain cryptocurrencies, was detained in Istanbul during a joint operation by Turkish intelligence agency MİT and local police. Neither Istanbul police nor Interpol had confirmed the report at the time of the earliest coverage, and as of this writing no government has issued an official statement. The tokens tied to Heart's projects dropped sharply within hours of the reports: HEX fell roughly 25%, and PulseChain's native token PLS fell about 35% over 24 hours, continuing a decline that has left PLS down nearly 98% from its 2023 launch price.

This matters because Heart has been one of crypto's most visible and polarizing figures for years, having built HEX into a multi-billion-dollar token at its peak while facing sustained fraud allegations from US regulators — a case that was ultimately dismissed on evidentiary grounds rather than resolved in his favor.

What's being reported

According to Turkish media accounts, Heart — whose legal name is Richard James Schueler — was taken into custody at a residence in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district. Reports describe seizures including approximately $4 million in cash, 64 high-end watches, and unspecified electronic devices; no cryptocurrency wallets were reported seized. The Block, which first aggregated the Turkish reporting, said it contacted Istanbul police and Interpol for comment and had received no response by publication.

The legal basis being cited

The detention is reportedly connected to an Interpol Red Notice issued in December 2024 at the request of Finnish authorities, who are seeking Heart in connection with alleged aggravated tax fraud. A Red Notice is a request for law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition — it is not a conviction or formal charge in the country making the arrest. Separately, some Turkish media reports claim local authorities suspect Heart ran a fraud network with victims in the US, Finland, and Spain; those specific allegations have not been independently confirmed and should be treated as reported claims rather than established fact.

How this differs from the US case

Heart's history with US regulators is unrelated to this detention. The SEC sued Heart and entities tied to HEX and PulseChain in 2023, alleging unregistered securities offerings and fraud. That case ended in February 2025 when a federal judge dismissed it, and the SEC declined to refile an amended complaint in April 2025, citing insufficient evidence. No part of the US case resulted in a finding against Heart.

What remains unconfirmed

As of this writing, Heart's current custody status, whether any extradition request has been formally filed, and the exact value and nature of seized assets all remain unverified beyond Turkish media reporting. Readers should treat the specific allegations circulating about a broader fraud network as unconfirmed claims pending an official statement from Turkish, Finnish, or Interpol authorities.