Three people detained after dismembered body of crypto millionaire and wife discovered in Dubai desert
Three suspects have allegedly been detained after the bodies of both a crypto millionaire and his wife were discovered buried in a desert in the UAE.
Roman Novak, 38, was a Russian crypto multi-millionaire who was allegedly murdered along with his wife Anna, 37, a former TV reporter.
The couple were last seen in October when they travelled to meet 'investors' in Dubai's mountain resort Hatta.
However, it was claimed that the pair were kidnapped and held with a 'large ransom' demand, which was 'not paid', leading to their murder.
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When relatives were unable to contact the couple for several days, they reported them as missing.
Now, two fighters from the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as a former murder squad detective, are accused of being behind the slayings.
The couple were allegedly killed in a villa in Hatta, and the suspects have now been detained in St Petersburg and the Stavropol and Krasnodar regions of Russia.
According to reports, the suspects were the 'investors' who are accused of kidnapping the couple and demanding Novak hand over the password to his crypto wallet. However, the wallet turned out to be empty.
Svetlana Petrenko, a member of the Russian Investigative Committee, said: “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.”
The detained suspects will be remanded in custody until 28 December; however, five other Russians below the age of 25 are believed to be linked to the case too.
The couple have tragically left behind young children who have since been collected by their maternal and paternal grandparents following their deaths.
The committee went on to claim the couple were taken by their personal driver to a car park by a lake, where they were transferred to another car, which would take them to the ‘investors’.
Novak had allegedly messaged contacts around this time to claim he was now 'stuck in the mountains on the Oman border' and needed $200,000 (£152,000).
Phone tracking data revealed they drove from Hatta to Oman and then Cape Town, South Africa, before the signal was lost.
However, UAE law enforcement and Russian police believe the phones were used to mislead the investigation.
“In reality, Novak was simply a talented manipulator who managed to convince people to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars,” they reported.
It was claimed that he ran a crypto network via an app made by Ukrainian programmers, as Russian law enforcement was looking for crypto exchanges in Moscow to find traces of the investments.
Topics: Crime, Russia, World News, Cryptocurrency
Britt Jones