Richard Schueler — also known as Richard Heard — founded the cryptocurrency firms Hex and PulseChain and has used social media to promote them.
Finnish police suspect the American cryptocurrency millionaire Richard Schueler of gross tax evasion and assault.
Police suspect that Schueler, who lives in Helsinki, failed to pay several hundred million euros in taxes to Finland.
“Based on the very considerable amount of money in question and the long-term and planned nature of the activity, there are grounds to suspect gross tax evasion,” Helsinki police detective Harri Saaristola told Yle.
Schueler, who was born in 1979, was remanded in custody in absentia on suspicion of the crimes on Friday, 13 September. Also known as Richard Heard, Schueler founded the cryptocurrency firms Hex and PulseChain and has used social media to promote them.
According to the remand order, the suspected gross tax evasion took place between June 2, 2020 and April 2, 2024. The suspected assault took place between 16 and 17 February 2021.
While Schueler officially resides in the Finnish capital, authorities have not caught up with him yet and his whereabouts are unknown.
According to authorities Schueler’s income amounted to more than 15.2 million euros last year. The suspected tax evasion is not related to his capital income.
According to detective Saaristola, the suspect created, launched and marketed the cryptocurrencies out of Finland, with most of the digital tokens being marketed abroad.
Saaristola said that Schueler’s tax returns did not match up with the Tax Administration’s assessment of his income.
“It is then a matter of neglecting to report [income] or offering false information,” Saaristola said.
US authorities suspect fraud
Authorities in the US have also suspected Schueler of suspicious or criminal activity.
In the summer of 2023, news agency Reuters reported that the US Securities and Exchange Commission had charged him with illegally raising more than one billion US dollars “in three unregistered cryptocurrency offerings, and defrauding investors out of 12.1 million dollars to buy luxuries including the world’s largest black diamond”.
According to the SEC, Schueler promoted the investments as an avenue to great wealth.
According to detective Saaristola, Finnish authorities’ suspicions were related to the launch and marketing of Hex and PulseChain cryptocurrencies to investors.
The suspicions arose after the Finnish Tax Administration requested police to investigate the matter, according to Saaristola.
He said that the criminal probe is still in its initial stages and is being carried out in cooperation with international authorities.
Yle was unable to reach Schueler for comment.
