According to a Tuesday report by Yonhap News, three executives of the yield platform Haru Invest have been arrested by South Korean authorities for allegedly stealing cryptocurrency valued at 1.1 trillion won ($828 million) from over 16,000 users.
According to reports, the Joint Investigation Team of Virtual Asset Crimes of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office has detained three people, including the CEO of the company.
For a while, Haru Invest, which had previously assured users of double-digit returns on their cryptocurrency deposits on the platform, was having problems. Citing problems with service partners, it stopped accepting withdrawals and deposits in June of last year. Shortly after, about 100 employees were let off.
According to Yonhap, the platform may be involved in a fraud called a “rug pull,” in which the founders of cryptocurrency projects vanish with the money of their victims.
The Haru executives are charged by the prosecution with embezzling client cash between March 2020 and June 2023 while falsely claiming to be employing “risk-free, diversified investment techniques.”