Turkey’s Justice Minister Akın Gurlek has confirmed that Hex and PulseChain founder Richard Heart was detained in Istanbul, with police seizing $7.15 million in cash and six cold wallets during related searches.
Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, was detained alongside his wife on Wednesday during an operation in Istanbul’s Besiktas district, Gurlek said in a post on X.
Three further people were later detained after police identified them as working as Heart’s bodyguards.
The operation was led by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office, together with the city’s intelligence and financial crimes units. Turkey’s intelligence agency, MIT, also supported the operation.
Searches were carried out at 15 addresses in the Besiktas, Uskudar and Sarıyer districts.
According to Gurlek, officers recovered 160,000 Turkish lira, 28 watches, 97 pieces of jewellery, 300 bags and 19 graphics cards. They also seized four long-barrelled rifles, three unlicensed pistols and 1,400 rounds of ammunition.
Gurlek said judicial proceedings remain under way and that the seized items are still being examined.
State news agency Anadolu separately reported that nine vehicles registered to Heart’s wife had been impounded. Turkish media reports on Wednesday had put the amount of cash seized at $4 million and the number of luxury watches at 64.
Hex, the Ethereum-based token launched by Heart in 2019, fell by about 14% over the previous 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
Heart’s Red Notice
Gurlek said Heart’s Red Notice was connected to allegations of $1 billion in cryptocurrency fraud in the United States and Finland.
The notice was issued in December 2024 on behalf of Finland, where authorities were seeking Heart on suspicion of gross tax evasion and assault.
In the United States, a federal judge dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Heart in February 2025 on jurisdictional grounds. The agency declined to refile the case in April.
Gurlek did not say whether Turkey had received an extradition request.
The Block has contacted the Helsinki Police Department and David Kirk, Heart’s lawyer in the SEC case, for comment.
