Haru Invest Execs Arrested in South Korea for Allegedly Stealing $828M Worth of Crypto: Report

CoinDeskPolicyPublished on 2024-02-05Last updated on 2024-02-06

Abstract

The platform paused withdrawals and fired 100 employees last June citing issues with service partners.

South Korean authorities have arrested three executives at yield platform Haru Invest for allegedly stealing 1.1 trillion won ($828 million) worth of crypto from around 16,000 customers, Yonhap News reported on Tuesday.

The company’s CEO is reportedly among the three arrested by the Joint Investigation Team of Virtual Asset Crimes of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.

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Haru Invest, which once promised double-digit yields for crypto deposits on the platform, has been in troubled waters for some time. It paused withdrawals and deposits in June last year, citing issues with service partners, and fired around 100 employees shortly afterward. Yonhap reports the platform is suspected of running a scam known as a “rug pull,” where founders of crypto projects disappear with customers’ funds.

The prosecutors have accused the Haru executives of misappropriating customer funds between March 2020 and June 2023 while advertising they were using “risk-free, diversified investment techniques.”

Edited by Sandali Handagama.

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