Asia DispatchHaru Invest CEO Hugo Lee was stabbed on August 28 at the Seoul Southern District Court. He is under investigation on fraud charges related to the closure of the platform. The attack highlights a growing trend of brutal crypto-related attacks.
A former user of Haru Invest stabbed the company's CEO Hyungsoo Lee, known as Hugo Lee, in the neck on August 28 at the Seoul Southern District Court.
Lee, who is currently under investigation for fraud related to the platform that stopped withdrawals in June 2023, was taken to hospital. His injuries were not life-threatening, according to Reuters.
A man in his fifties was arrested at the scene of the attack.
The incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks linked to cryptocurrencies over the past few months. In March in Hong Kong, a 19-year-old man was lured to a hotel room under the pretense of trading cryptocurrency, where he was beaten with baseball bats.
In May, a 55-year-old investor embroiled in a crypto investment controversy was kidnapped by four men in Hong Kong. Two Chinese businessmen were killed in the Philippines in June after demanding a ransom for crypto.
And recently in the US, a Florida man was convicted of targeting cryptocurrency owners in violent home invasions in four states.
K-drama
Haru Invest, launched in 2020, boasts a “CeFi Digital Asset Investment Platform” for “smart, simple, secure crypto investing” and offers yields of over 17%.
At its peak, it posted a 13% return on Tether and a 15% return on investments in Terra's Korean won stablecoin, KRT.
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On June 13, 2023, the company suddenly halted deposits and withdrawals, leading to panic among users.
While the company Said It's not just “pulling the rug” on investors, it's simultaneously laid off 100 employees and shut down several social media accounts. It has $1 billion in user deposits.
In a further Advertisement On June 14, 2023, Haru blamed B&S Holdings for its woes, accusing the company of submitting “false management reports” that misled the company and its customers.
It said it has filed a criminal complaint and intends to pursue civil litigation against B&S Holdings.
Fall of FTX
Although said to have used different trading strategies, Haru Invest provided funds to trade B&S Holdings, which it now does on the bankrupt exchange FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March for his role in the 2022 collapse of FTX and its sister company Alameda Research.
On August 13, the majority shareholder of B&S Holdings, Joon-Ho Bang Sentenced He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a $45 million virtual asset fraud scheme by Haru Invest and another collapsed platform, Delio. He is appealing his sentence.
Bang is also under investigation in a second case that focuses on activities before FTX's collapse.
Delio's CEO, Song-Ho Jeong, was indicted in April 2024 on charges of virtual asset fraud involving $184 million.
Callan Quinn is Asia Correspondent for DL News. Got a tip? Email her [email protected].