SEC serves suit to evasive Richard Heart in Finland, but not in person

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission said it served its lawsuit to HEX founder Richard Schueler — aka Richard Heart — at his house in Finland’s capital of Helsinki.

In a Dec. 11 New York District Court filing, the SEC said it served Heart through substitute service on Oct. 31 — an alternative for when a suit can’t be personally delivered to the defendant typically due to difficulties in locating them.

The process server said they made several failed attempts over nearly seven weeks starting Sept. 13 to personally serve Heart through calls, texts, letters, and attempts to reach him in person at his Helsinki residence.

The SEC sued Heart in July, alleging he made over $1 billion selling Hex, PulseChain (PLS), and PulseX (PSLX), which the agency claimed were unregistered securities.

It also claimed Heart defrauded investors in the U.S. and overseas by misappropriating at least $12 million of their funds to buy a “555-carat diamond, expensive watches, and high-end automobiles.”

In an early November status report to the court, the SEC said it could not find Heart since Aug. 22 to serve its suit despite knowing he was somewhere in Helsinki

Related: Terra co-founder Do Kwon will stay in Montenegro until February: Report

While Heart has kept his whereabouts closely guarded, it hasn’t stopped him from remaining active online.

First you’ll see #Binance company indictment. https://t.co/0ev9gruw6t The previous tweet was the personal CZ indictment.

— Richard Heart (@RichardHeartWin) November 21, 2023

Since the SEC’s Nov. 21 status report, Heart has made over 40 X (Twitter) posts, concerning current crypto-related events such as Binance’s settlement with the Department of Justice in November, Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial, and updates on Do Kwon.

HEX is down 81.5% over the past year and 99% since its Sept. 19, 2021, all-time high of $0.5, per CoinGecko data.

Magazine: Crypto City Guide to Helsinki: 5,050 Bitcoin for $5 in 2009 is Helsinki’s claim to crypto fame