Turkish authorities arrested Richard Heart, founder of Hex, PulseChain and PulseX, at a residence in Istanbul's Beşiktaş district on Wednesday, according to local media reports. The Daily Sabah reported that police detained Heart and his wife in a joint operation by Turkish police and intelligence officers. An Interpol Red Notice had been issued for Heart, whose legal name is Richard James Schueler, at the request of Finnish authorities.

Officers reportedly seized roughly $4 million in cash, 64 luxury watches, firearms and electronic equipment during the raid. Police have not yet confirmed those figures, and no official inventory has been published. To put the haul in perspective, 64 watches represents a collection that could easily exceed the value of the cash itself, depending on provenance and brand.

The seizure figures come from Turkish media, not from a confirmed police statement. Until authorities verify the inventory, the $4 million figure should be treated as provisional.

What does Finland allege?

Heart faces allegations of tax fraud and assault in Finland, according to the same Turkish media reports. The Interpol Red Notice tied to those allegations is what reportedly triggered the coordinated Istanbul operation. Finland has not publicly detailed the specific charges beyond those categories. Whether Finnish prosecutors will formally seek extradition, and how quickly, remains unresolved.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. It is not a conviction, and Heart has not been found liable in any of the matters cited.

How did the SEC case end?

Heart's legal exposure is not new. In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Heart and three crypto projects — Hex, PulseChain and PulseX — with raising more than $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings. The regulator also accused Heart and PulseChain of misappropriating at least $12 million in investor funds.

The SEC dropped the case in 2025 after a judge dismissed the complaint. The court cited a lack of jurisdiction, reasoning that the projects did not specifically target investors in the United States. The dismissal ended the U.S. securities claim on procedural grounds; it was not an acquittal on the merits of the fraud allegations.

The $1 billion figure refers to the total raised across the offerings the SEC identified. To frame it: that sum exceeds the gross domestic product of several small island economies in a single year.

What happens next?

Turkish authorities must now decide whether to hold Heart pending a formal extradition request from Finland. Under standard Interpol procedures, that process can take weeks or months, and Heart may contest extradition in Turkish courts. The operational consequence for PulseChain and PulseX is governance uncertainty; the projects have no formal corporate structure that separates them from their founder, and his detention leaves key decision-making opaque.

Expect confirmation of the seized assets and any Finnish extradition filing to define the next phase of this case. Until then, the verified facts are an arrest, a Red Notice and unconfirmed seizure figures.