Featured Image Credit: Instagram/t0r
Topics: News, Cryptocurrency
Callum Jones
A crypto scammer was abducted in UAE before his captors allegedly attempted to extort him, before killing and dismembering him and his wife.
The bodies of Roman Novak, 38, and his wife Anna, 37, were found after they were allegedly lured to a meeting with people posing as 'investors' at the Hatta mountain resort.
Roman is a convicted fraudster, having been sentenced to six years in prison in Russia in 2020. Allegedly, he resumed his criminal activities after his release in 2023.
He launched the Fintopia platform promising fast cryptocurrency transfers and managed to raise $500 million from investors. However, he's then accused of having disappeared with his investors' money.
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Novak and Anna's are said to have collected a British AC Cobra car in the days before his disappearance, before a personal driver chauffeured the couple to a car park close to a lake.
The crypto magnate and his wife, who were born in Russia but were based in Dubai, are said to have then switched cars for the remainder of the journey.
Roman and Anna were reported missing in early October after no one had heard of them for several days.
They were last seen heading to the lake to discuss business with the 'unknown investor' and are said to have been 'extorted' for cryptocurrency, as per the Daily Mail.
Authorities say Roman and Anna were held captive as kidnappers demanded the password to Novak’s crypto wallet, though once they had gained access, the criminals allegedly discovered nothing in the wallet.
Russian outlet Fontanka reports the criminals subsequently killed the pair and dismembered their bodies and scattered the body parts, even leaving some in trash cans in a shopping mall.
It remains unclear at this time if any of the pair's remains have been recovered.
"According to preliminary information, Novak and his wife were kidnapped for ransom. When the criminals realized they wouldn’t get the money, they killed both of them," a source close to Komsomolskaya Pravda stated.
Authorities in both Russia and the United Arab Emirates have teamed up to tackle the murder investigation, and it was revealed in recent days that three Russian suspects had been arrested after returning from Dubai in connection with the killings.
Konstantin Shakht, 53, Yury Sharypov, 46, and Vladimir Dalekin, 45 were detained and will remain in custody until December 28.
The latter both served for Russia in the Ukraine war, while Shakht is an ex-homicide investigator who is now an alleged drugs smuggler.
RIC spokesperson Petrenko previously shed light on the situation, saying: "The investigation has established that the killers had accomplices who helped organise the abduction.
"They rented cars and premises where the victims were held by force.
"After the murder, the perpetrators disposed of the knives and the victims’ personal belongings, leaving them in different emirates."