CEO of Haru Invest stabbed to death in court during $826 million trial

Hugo Hyungsoo Lee, CEO of South Korean crypto company Haru Invest, was violently attacked in a Seoul courtroom during a high-profile trial. The attack came just weeks after a similar crypto crime in Thailand, where a Chinese gang stole over $2 million worth of digital assets from a luxury property at gunpoint.

Lee, who was at the center of a trial in which three executives from his company were accused of embezzling $826 million from around 16,000 users, was stabbed multiple times in the neck. The attacker, a man in his 40s identified as one of the victims of Haru Invest, reportedly jumped from his seat in the courtroom and used a small knife in the attack. Lee was immediately taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.

The court drama comes against a backdrop of significant turmoil for Haru Invest. The company suspended all withdrawals on June 13, 2023, a day before Delio, a custody company that holds funds with Haru, also halted withdrawals. South Korean prosecutors later charged three top executives, including Lee, with embezzling $826 million worth of their users' digital assets.

Prosecutors allege that from March 2020 to June 2023, executives embezzled and reinvested most of the customer deposits under false pretenses. Haru Invest was promoted as a stable company that uses “risk-free diversified investment techniques,” a claim now under scrutiny. Lee was arrested in February 2024 but was released in July pending trial.

The stabbing incident underscores the growing tension and violence surrounding high-risk financial fraud in the cryptocurrency sector.

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