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The CEO of cryptocurrency deposit service Haru Invest was stabbed in the neck during his fraud trial in Seoul. The attack occurred in the courtroom, carried out by a man in his 50s. Lee survived the attack with non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital.
Crypto Platform’s CEO Stabbed During Fraud Trial
The CEO of South Korean cryptocurrency deposit service Haru Invest, Hugo Hyungsoo Lee, was stabbed in the neck during his fraud trial in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, police reported on Thursday.
The attack took place at the Seoul Southern District Court, where a man in his 50s, who was attending the trial, suddenly attacked Lee. According to the Seoul Yangcheon Police Station, Lee was taken to a hospital, and his injuries were determined to be non-life-threatening. The assailant was arrested immediately, and police are investigating his motives for the attack.
Lee’s trial relates to charges filed in February 2024, when he was indicted for fraud following Haru Invest’s suspension of cryptocurrency withdrawals worth about 1.4 trillion won ($1.05 billion). These funds had been deposited by customers between March 2020 and June 2023.
The sudden suspension led to allegations that Lee and other executives embezzled customer funds while misleading investors about the safety and profitability of their investments. The case has drawn significant attention to the risks associated with the cryptocurrency market in South Korea, prompting regulatory authorities to step up their oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future.