- Haru Invest CEO Hugo Lee has been stabbed by a former customer while attending his trial
- Lee was stabbed in the neck but the injuries were described as non-life-threatening
- The executive is charged with embezzling roughly $1 billion of customer funds
The CEO of Haru Invest Hugo Lee was stabbed in the neck by an alleged former customer. The incident happened while attending a trial at a South Korean court for allegedly embezzling over roughly $1 billion of customer funds. Lee was taken to hospital with the stab wounds described as non-life-threatening, an incident that is becoming common with disgruntled customers personally attacking DeFi protocol executives when they incur unexplained losses.
Lee Promised an ROI of 12%
Lee’s stabber was described as a man in his 50s. According to The Korea Times, the assailant was arrested by authorities and will face attempted murder charges. The police said that they are investigating how the stabber sneaked a knife into the courtroom.
Lee was arrested early this year, along with other top Haru Invest employees, on charges of misusing funds deposited by around 16,000 customers in three years ending June 2023.
The executives told investors that they would invest the funds “using a risk-drive […] technique” that would result in an ROI of 12% per year. In mid-2023, investors were unable to withdraw their funds.
Victims Taking Revenge
The stabbing comes as DeFi project customers directly express their anger on project executives in case they lose money in unclear circumstances. A week ago, for example, BitConnect victims kidnapped employees linked to the scam founder in a bid to recover losses.
The incident also comes a month after South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act came into effect after being approved in July last year. The new law provides guidelines on how Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) handle customer funds in a bid to boost investor protection.
With the Haru Invest CEO sustaining stab wounds from an unhappy customer, disgruntled DeFi and web3 users will likely start physically hunting down project creators when they lose funds.
