Haru Invest CEO acquitted of $650 million fraud charges

On June 17th, according to The Block, a South Korean court announced on Tuesday that Haru Invest CEO Lee Hyung soo is not guilty and dismissed fraud charges against him. Li Hengzhu previously faced fraud charges for Haru Invest's sudden closure of user withdrawal channels and closure of company offices in June 2023. It is said that the company has attracted thousands of investors by promising to "fully return the principal" and a high annualized yield of up to 25%. The South Korean prosecutor initially accused the company of illegally obtaining 1.39 trillion Korean won (approximately 1.02 billion US dollars) from around 16000 investors, but later lowered the amount to 880.5 billion Korean won (approximately 650 million US dollars) in a formal lawsuit involving around 6000 investors. The prosecutor had requested the court to sentence Li Hengzhu to 23 years in prison.