Hugo Hyungsoo Lee, CEO of South Korean crypto firm Haru Invest, was violently attacked in a Seoul courtroom during a high-profile trial. The attacker, a man in his 40s identified as one of Haru Invest’s victims, reportedly leaped from his seat in the courtroom and used a small knife in the assault.
Lee, who was at the center of a trial accusing three of his company’s executives of embezzling $826 million from around 16,000 users, was stabbed multiple times in the neck. Lee was swiftly transported to a hospital for emergency treatment.
The courtroom drama unfolds against a backdrop of significant turmoil for Haru Invest. The company suspended all withdrawals on June 13, 2023, a day before Delio, a depository firm holding funds at Haru, also halted withdrawals. South Korean prosecutors later charged three top executives, including Lee, with misappropriating $826 million worth of digital assets from their users.
Prosecutors allege that from March 2020 to June 2023, the executives diverted most customer deposits, reinvesting them under pretenses. Haru Invest was advertised as a stable operation employing “risk-free diversified investment techniques,” a claim now under scrutiny. Lee was arrested in February 2024 but was released in July pending trial.
The stabbing incident underscores the growing tension and violence associated with high-stakes financial fraud cases in the cryptocurrency sector. The assault occurred just weeks after a similar crypto-related crime in Thailand, where a Chinese gang stole over $2 million in digital assets at gunpoint from a luxury estate.
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