Turkey's Justice Minister Akın Gürlek confirmed on October 17 that U.S. citizen Richard James Schueler, known in crypto circles as Richard Heart, was detained in Istanbul three days earlier under an Interpol Red Notice. Officials have tied the detention to allegations of roughly $1 billion in crypto-asset fraud involving the United States and Finland. Heart's wife and three people described as alleged bodyguards were detained alongside him.
What the searches turned up
The Türkiye Ministry of Justice said searches linked to the case yielded $7.15 million, 160,000 Turkish lira and six cold wallets. Those figures came from the ministry's own statement. A separate account from The Block described searches at 15 addresses that reportedly produced four long-barreled rifles, three unlicensed pistols, 1,400 rounds of ammunition, luxury goods and electronic devices. Those items were distinct from the cash and cold-wallet tallies the ministry disclosed.
The sheer spread of the seizure — cash in two currencies, hardware wallets, firearms — gives a sense of how broadly Turkish authorities are casting the net. The cold wallets matter most for a crypto case; the rest reads like a standard evidence haul from a high-profile raid.
Why a Red Notice, not a warrant
An Interpol Red Notice is easy to misread. It is not an international arrest warrant. It's an alert asking law-enforcement agencies in member countries to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. In practice, it gives local police a basis to hold someone while the requesting country's paperwork gets sorted out. Turkey's detention of Heart rests on that mechanism.
The fraud allegations
Turkish officials linked the case to alleged crypto-asset fraud of approximately $1 billion, with the United States and Finland named as the jurisdictions involved. The ministry did not, in its statements, detail the specific charges or the evidence behind the figure. Heart has been a polarizing figure in crypto for years, but the facts here are what the Turkish authorities have put on the record — and those are the ones that will matter in court.
What's still open
The judicial process and the examination of items seized in the searches were ongoing, according to Anadolu Agency. That leaves the core questions unresolved: what Heart is formally charged with, whether extradition requests follow, and how the cold wallets fit into the alleged fraud. No timeline has been given for the next court step.
For now, the concrete facts are the detention on October 14, the confirmation three days later, and a seizure list that runs from millions in cash to six hardware wallets. Everything past that is still being examined.
