Social

Home page

Social

US judge dismisses SEC fraud lawsuit against Hex crypto founder

01 March 2025 16:18 (UTC +04:00)

A federal judge dismissed on Friday a lawsuit by U.S. securities regulators accusing an online entrepreneur of raising more than $1 billion through unregistered cryptocurrency offerings and defrauding investors out of $12.1 million to buy luxuries including the world's largest black diamond, APA reports citing Reuters.

U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon in Brooklyn cited a lack of ties between Richard Heart's alleged conduct and the United States in deciding to toss, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's 2023 lawsuit against Heart, a U.S. citizen residing in Finland.

The SEC had alleged that Heart, also known as Richard Schueler, touted his Hex token, PulseX asset trading platform and PulseChain asset network on YouTube and other websites as pathways to "grandiose wealth."

The SEC in its lawsuit said Heart knew his often "tongue-in-cheek" disclaimers that his offerings were not securities were false, including when he said that Hex was capable of 38% annual returns and "built to be the highest appreciating asset that has ever existed in the history of man."

He was also accused of spending PulseChain investor funds on McLaren and Ferrari sports cars, four Rolex watches costing $3.02 million, and "The Enigma," a 555-carat black diamond costing 3.16 million British pounds (then $4.28 million) at a Sotheby's auction in February 2022, the SEC said.