South Korean Prosecutors Arrest Top Executives of Haru Invest Over $830M Crypto Fraud
Summary:
Several executives of Haru Invest, a cryptocurrency yield platform, have been arrested by South Korean prosecutors on allegations of stealing 1.1 trillion won ($830 million) in cryptocurrency from 16,000 customers. The platform had halted customer withdrawals in June 2023. The prosecution claims that the executives misappropriated customer funds, reinvesting the assets without proper consent. Haru Invest continues to face legal issues, with a class-action lawsuit filed against it by affected investors.
The troubled cryptocurrency yield platform Haru Invest, which halted withdrawals in June 2023, has had several of its executives finally detained by South Korean prosecutors. Three principle figures from Haru Invest have been arrested by the virtual asset crime probe team of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, as announced by local news outlet Yonhap on Feb. 6. Among the arrested individuals are the CEO of Haru Invest and two other executives. These executives are accused of illicitly acquiring 1.1 trillion won (equivalent to $830 million) in cryptocurrency from 16,000 customers of Haru Invest.
The prosecution alleges that the executives of Haru Invest illicitly used the majority of funds deposited by customers, reinvesting these assets between March 2020 and June 2023. The officials were accused of portraying Haru as a steady and risk-free diversified investment operation.
In the wake of this news, Haru Invest shared another announcement in which no concrete information was mentioned. On Feb. 4, the company put out a statement on platform X stating that they had "no specific updates for this week." The CEO of Haru Invest, Hugo Lee, confirmed the statement, which reads, “At present, no update is available regarding the investigations or overall scenario following the arrest of B&S Holdings' principle shareholder, Bang Jun-ho. Our efforts for asset recovery continue unabated.”
Without prior notice, Haru Invest stopped withdrawals on June 13, 2023. The subsequent day, Delio, a fund management and depositary firm with some of its funds tied up in Haru Invest, also ceased withdrawals.
Haru Invest blamed the problems on the alleged scamming activities of B&S Holdings, a consignment operator previously known as Aventus. Haru Invest, established in 2019, operated a cryptocurrency yield platform and advertised its services as offering investors the chance to earn up to 12% annual interest on cryptocurrency deposits.
Following the halt in withdrawals, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Haru in June 2023 by Delio and other impacted investors.
Published At
2/6/2024 11:13:41 AM
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