Authorities have released further details about a man who raised millions through a fraudulent crypto app before he was kidnapped, killed and dismembered alongside his wife.
Russian citizens Roman Novak and his wife, Anna, were deceived by criminals who, pretending to be potential investors, persuaded them to travel to Hatta, a mountain resort outside Dubai, Russian outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda reported last week.
The couple, who were last seen alive on Oct. 2, were known to flaunt their luxurious lifestyle consisting of expensive cars, vacations, and private planes in Dubai. However they were being ‘extorted’ for their cryptocurrency, the Russian paper said, citing UAE law enforcement.
Authorities said that once the couple were lured to a villa in the mountain resort, they were held while their kidnappers demanded the password to unlock Novak’s crypto wallet.
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When the kidnappers discovered that Novak’s wallet was empty, the criminals allegedly killed and dismembered the couple before scattering their remains. Russian outlet Fontanka reported that some of their body parts were left in trash cans at a shopping mall.
“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 told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Roman and Anna's phones were tracked for two days. The final signal from their phones was received two days after they were last seen alive. It came from thousands of miles away in Cape Town, South Africa, before the connection was lost according to authorities in St Petersburg who are investigating the deaths. Reports allege Roman sent text messages to several individuals explaining that he was 'stuck in the mountains on the Oman border'. Sources also claim that the 38-year-old also told his contacts that he desperately needed to get his hands on $200,000.
Authorities in Russia and the United Arab Emirates are working together as part of the investigation. They suspect the phones may have been left on to mislead investigators.
Roman and Anna’s worried relatives back home raised the alarm after they couldn’t reach them
Eight people have been arrested so far in connection with their disappearance and deaths. Three are alleged to have carried out the killings, while four are accused of plotting the deaths. The eighth person’s role has not yet been revealed.
“The investigation has established that the killers had accomplices who helped organise the abduction," said Svetlana Petrenko from the Russian Investigative Committee. “They rented cars and premises where the victims were held by force."
She added: “After the murder, the perpetrators disposed of the knives and the victims’ personal belongings, leaving them in different Emirates.”
Family members sounded the alarm after the couple went missing. At the time, Mr. Novak was under investigation, accused of stealing over £380 million from cryptocurrency investors under the guise of business development.