South Korean crypto CEO Hyung-soo "Hugo" Lee was stabbed in the neck in court during his fraud trial on Thursday, according to numerous reports.

Lee was reportedly taken to the hospital with injuries described as not life threatening.

The stabber was reportedly a man identified only as 51-year old Mr Kang. Kang allegedly smuggled a knife into the courtroom and waited until Lee took the stand before rushing from the audience to his seat and stabbing him several times.

Lee is said to have collapsed bleeding, and Kang was reportedly arrested by the Seoul Yangcheon police on charges of attempted murder.

The police are investigating the stabber's motives. Some media have identified Kang as a victim of Lee's crypto platform, Haru Invest, though this is not confirmed.

Haru Invest was a cryptocurrency investment platform that boasted high-yield investment products.

Like many businesses in the regulation-challenged industry, it eventually experienced financial difficulties and allegations of severe mismanagement.

In June 2023, the biz shocked its user base by freezing withdrawals.

"Recently, we have come across a certain issue with one of the service partners we have worked with. We are now further investigating the issue with them and seeking the contigency plan to rectify the situation. For the purpose of protecting our users' assets under our custody, we have come to make a tough decision that any deposit and withdrawal requests will be suspended until further notice, starting from June 13, 2023, at 0:40 UTC," explained Haru Invest in a blog post that has since been taken down.

According to local media, Haru Invest advertised risk-free arbitrage - implying a broad-based strategy - while in fact 70 to 90 percent of its assets were entrusted to a single investor, identified as Bang. Bang is also reportedly connected to the fall of fellow crypto slinger Delio - also now defunct - and has been arrested.

Most of Haru Invest's employees were engaged in "customer attraction" work - like web design, public relations, and office decoration.

Haru Invest execs are accused of deceiving over 16,000 customers out of $1.4 trillion won ($1.05 million) by guaranteeing the principal amount and pretending to pay up to 16 percent annual returns.

Lee and three others were arrested in February of this year and charged with fraud. Lee had been out on bail since July. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/08/30/crypto_boss_stabbed_in_neck/