Hugo Hyungsoo Lee was one of the defendants in the case in which three Haru Invest executives were accused of stealing $826 million in crypto assets from 16,000 users.
The attacker was a 40-year-old man who claims to be a victim of Haru Invest. He was in the courtroom when he suddenly stood up and began stabbing Lee in the neck with a knife. Bailiffs detained the attacker and Lee was taken to hospital. His condition is unknown.
In June 2023, Haru Invest suddenly suspended withdrawals, closed its Seoul office, and deleted its YouTube and LinkedIn profiles. The team attributed this to problems with service partners. The next day, crypto lender Delio, part of whose funds were held by Haru Invest, also stopped withdrawing funds.
In February 2024, South Korean law enforcement arrested three Haru Invest executives, including the platform’s CEO. According to the prosecution, from March 2020 to June 2023, Haru Invest’s top managers illegally appropriated most of the funds received from clients. While they continued to advertise Haru Invest as a stable investment business with no risks.
At the beginning of the year, the South Korean government introduced life imprisonment for theft of cryptocurrencies on an especially large scale — more than 5 billion won (about $4 million). This provision was included in the Law on the Protection of Users of Virtual Assets.
Source: Bits
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