The bodies of both a crypto millionaire and his wife have allegedly been discovered in a United Arab Emirates desert after being killed and dismembered.
Roman Novak, 38, was a Russian crypto multi-millionaire and his wife Anna, 37, was a former TV reporter in their home country.
It is believed that two fighters from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and a former murder squad detective were behind the killing.
The couple were last seen last month when they drove out to meet 'investors' in Dubai's mountain resort Hatta, with a 'large ransom' demand following though it was left 'not paid', leading to their demise.
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It's believed that they were killed in a villa in Hatta nearly a month ago, as three Russian suspects have since been detained in St Petersburg, and the Stavropol and Krasnodar regions of Russia after getting back from the Arab nation.
Allegedly, they were the 'investors' who kidnapped the couple and demanded that the millionaire hand over the password to his crypto wallet.
Roman didn't refuse, as news outlet Fontanka reported that the wallet was actually empty.
The men who were detained have been named as Russian citizens Konstantin Shakht, 53, an ex-homicide investigator who is now a drugs smuggler, as well as Yury Sharypov, 46, and Vladimir Dalekin, 45, who both served for Russia in the war in Ukraine.
As Roman and Anna failed to raise a ransom, they were 'killed and then dismembered' as all three detained suspects will be remanded in custody until 28 December, while it is said that five other Russians, all below the age of 25, are linked to the case.
The pair were based in Dubai and often took to social media of their apparent lavish lifestyles, including supercars and private jets, though they would be 'extorted' for cryptocurrency, as reports cited law enforcement.
They have left behind underage children who have since been collected by their parents following the horrific incident.
Svetlana Petrenko from the Russian Investigative Committee, stated: “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 committee further confirmed that the couple were meant to meet investors in Hatta, as their personal driver took them to a car park by a lake, where they were transferred to another car and never seen alive again.
Roman had apparently messaged contacts around this time to reveal he was 'stuck in the mountains on the Oman border' and needed $200,000 (£152,000).
While their phones were tracked for two days, revealing they went from Hatta to Oman and then Cape Town, South Africa, where the signals vanished early in October.
Investigations revealed that the killers planned for the phones to be left on to mislead authorities, though Russian and UAE law enforcement worked together to solve the double murder.
Fontaka went on: “Emirati police found traces of Anna Novak’s blood at the villa, blood in the rented car, a cache of knives near the crime scene, and one of the organisers’ T-shirts left behind in haste.”
Relatives close to the couple raised the alarm, as Roman was under investigation at the time as he was accused of the theft of over £380 million from crypto investors as he claimed it was for business development.
A local report suggested that the victims of his scam were 'business men from China and Middle Eastern countries', while Komsomolskaya Pravda [KP] newspaper noted that the man presented as someone operating on the level of Arab Sheikhs.
“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 low enforcement were looking for crypto exchanges in Moscow to find traces of the investments.
Roman has served a prison sentence for embezzlement in the past, according to local outlets.
Topics: Crime, Dubai, Cryptocurrency, Russia, World News
Joshua Nair