- Crypto scam leads to violent courtroom attack, CEO stabbed by angry investor during high-stakes fraud trial.
- Haru Invest CEO assaulted as emotions run high in $826M crypto scam case, highlighting investor frustrations.
- Lee and two top Haru Invest executives were detained in February 2024, later facing fraud charges
During a trial held at the Seoul Southern District Court on Wednesday, the chief executive of Haru Invest, Hyungsoo Lee, was brutally assaulted by an angry investor. The alleged attacker named Kang attacked Lee using a 20-centimeter knife and stabbed him in the neck several times, causing a scandal in the courtroom. This was a violent act in what has been an emotionally charged case involving $826 million crypto fraud in which Lee plays a very significant role.
The attack happened at the moment when Lee was at the defendant’s bench. Kang got involved in the case of alleged fraud by investing in the game alongside other 16,000 other investors and was among the six people who were in the courtroom. Members of security guarding the hall immediately descended on Kang and restrained him after he threatened to enhance his aggression. Details of Lee’s current condition have not been confirmed, but he was taken to Korea University Guro Hospital for emergency treatment.
Crypto Scam Fallout as Haru Invest Faces Fraud Trial
This situation reflects the frustration and volatility of many people who fell victims to the Haru Invest swindling. Once it was a very potential launching platform, now it alledgedly cheated investors of 1.1 trillion won (about 826 million dollars) for the period from March 2020 to June 2023. Lee and other executives of Haru are accused of embezzling these funds while selling the investors what they claimed to be safe, diversified portfolio investment plans.
Lee was initially detained from the Virtual Asset Crimes based in Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office in February 2024 together with two other top executives of the firm. In July 2023, Lee was indicted on fraud charges under the Aggravated Punishment Act for Specific Economic Crimes after being released on bail.
The trial has started shortly after that and is closely watched given that South Korea increasingly becomes the target of crypto-scam. Haru Invest is therefore among the series of cases of crypto scams that have plagued the South Korean market in the recent past
