Bob Lee, former Square chief technology officer and Cash App founder, killed in San Francisco
Sign up to our free US news bulletin sent straight to your inbox each weekday morning
Sign up to our free morning US email news bulletin
Cash app founder Bob Lee was allegedly stabbed following an argument about his suspected killer’s sister, according to court papers.
Nima Momeni, 38, is accused of stabbing the 43-year-old tech executive three times with a four-inch kitchen knife, including twice in the chest, the documents state, according to NBC News.
Prosecutors say that at some point during the incident, Mr Momeni’s sister sent a text to Lee, which stated, “Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you.”
Nima Momeni appeared in court for the first time on Friday after the case sparked a furious debate about public safety in San Francisco.
The suspect was wearing an orange sweatshirt and sweatpants as his sister and another woman held up their hands in the shape of a heart as the suspect smiled at them.
“The facts will come out, what’s basically in the press is inaccurate,” Mr Momeni’s stand-in lawyer told the press.
In a press conference announcing Mr Momeni’s arrest for murder on Thursday, San Francisco officials confirmed that the two men knew each other but declined to provide details.
Lee’s family friend later told The San Francisco Chronicle that the two tech executives are thought to have known each other through Mr Momeni’s sister, who Lee had recently gotten to know.
The two men were hanging out together on the night of the fatal stabbing, the friend said.
Cash app founder’s murder suspect smiles at family in first court appearance
Mr Momeni, 38, allegedly stabbed the 43-year-old after being involved in an altercation while driving in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill area early on 4 April.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott confirmed Mr Momeni had been charged with one count of murder at a press conference on Thursday.
The suspect was arrested without incident at an address in Emeryville, a city in the Bay Area, early on Thursday.
Read more:
Gustaf Kilander and Bevan Hurley15 April 2023 12:00
Nima Momeni: Who is the tech executive arrested for murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee?
Mr Momeni, 38, allegedly stabbed the 43-year-old after being involved in an altercation while driving in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill early on 4 April.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott confirmed Mr Momeni had been charged with one count of murder at a press conference on Thursday.
The suspect was arrested without incident at an address in Emeryville, a city in the Bay Area, early on Thursday.
The Mission Local news site was the first to report the arrest, and said that the pair were known to each other.
Read more:
Bevan Hurley and Gustaf Kilander15 April 2023 11:00
VIDEO: Cash App founder Bob Lee and stabbing suspect Nima Momeni knew each other
Cash App founder Bob Lee and stabbing suspect Nima Momeni knew each other
Gustaf Kilander15 April 2023 10:00
Suspect in Cash App founder killing makes court appearance
The 38-year-old tech consultant charged with the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee made his first appearance in a San Francisco courtroom Friday but did not enter a plea.
Nima Momeni, who police say knew Lee, is now scheduled to be arraigned April 25.
The judge ordered Momeni held in jail without bail, as requested by San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. He faces 26 years to life in prison, the prosecutor’s office said.
Momeni appeared in court in an orange sweatshirt and pants. He did not speak except to say, “Yes your honor,” when the judge asked if he agreed to decline his right to a speedy trial.
He is represented by Burlingame attorney Paula Canny, who is on vacation and whose brother Robert Canny, also an attorney, appeared in her place Friday. “The facts of what occurred, or didn’t occur, will come out over time,” he told reporters after the hearing.
Momeni’s sister, Khazar Elyassnia, and her husband Dino Elyassnia, a San Francisco plastic surgeon, along with two family members, sat in the front row at the hearing. When Momeni entered the courtroom, an older woman made a heart sign with her hands and Momeni, who was wearing a face mask, smiled and nodded at them.
Suspect in Cash App founder Bob Lee’s deadly stabbing has prior knife arrest
The suspect in the deadly stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee has previously been arrested for a knife offence.
Mr Momeni, 38, allegedly stabbed the 43-year-old after being involved in an altercation while driving in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill early on 4 April.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott confirmed Mr Momeni had been charged with one count of murder at a press conference on Thursday.
The suspect was arrested without incident at an address in Emeryville, a city in the Bay Area, early on Thursday.
Read more:
Gustaf Kilander15 April 2023 08:00
‘Bob loved being in San Francisco, and San Francisco loved Bob’
Lee’s brother, Tim Oliver Lee, posted on Facebook the family’s gratitude to the San Francisco Police Department for catching the suspect. Tim Lee said his brother dreamed of making technology accessible to all and that he made friends from all walks of life.
“Bob loved being in San Francisco, and San Francisco loved Bob. Walking down the street would sometimes be difficult because every young person with a dream would search him out, and he would make time for every one,” his brother wrote.
After Lee’s killing, prominent tech leaders, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, took to Twitter to mourn Lee’s death and blame San Francisco for what they called the city’s lax attitude toward crime.
Musk tweeted at Jenkins, saying that crime in San Francisco is “horrific” and that even when attackers are caught, they are often immediately released.
Mayor London Breed and other top city officials have pushed against that narrative and on Thursday, Jenkins addressed Musk directly.
“I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr. Musk tweet that assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee’s death serve to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco,” Jenkins said.
VIDEO: Cash App founder stabbing murder suspect’s arraignment delayed
Cash App founder stabbing murder suspect’s arraignment delayed
Gustaf Kilander15 April 2023 06:00
Suspect lived and worked in ‘typical Bay Area technology consultant’s office’
Publicist Sam Singer met Momeni about a month ago as Singer has an office next door to Momeni’s live-work loft in the stylish Besler Building Lofts. Singer described Momeni as “very welcoming, warm” and his loft as a “typical Bay Area technology consultant’s office” with a big pool table, gourmet food and high-end stereo system.
Lee is known for creating the widely used mobile payment service Cash App while working as chief technology officer of the payment company Square, now known as Block. He was the chief product officer for the cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin at the time of his death.
Lee was raised in Missouri and had recently moved to Miami with his father, but was back in San Francisco for business when he was killed. Friends described him as adventurous and fearless, and a doting father to his two children.
“I acknowledge and understand how the loss of a young, vibrant leader and innovator has rocked our city and even beyond,” DA Brooke Jenkins said at a news conference.
Suspect ran information technology consulting business
On his LinkedIn profile, Momeni describes himself as an “IT Consultant/Entrepreneur” as well as the owner of a company called Expand IT. Business filings with the state list Momeni as the chief executive officer, secretary and chief financial officer of Expand IT INC, described as an information technology consulting business. He signed the filing in August 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Momeni has been “a dedicated technology partner since 2005” and that he started Expand IT in 2010.
Criminal records show Momeni was charged with carrying a switchblade in 2011, a misdemeanor offense. The case was dismissed the following year after he took a plea.
Tech consultant charged in killing of Cash App founder Lee
A tech consultant was arrested and charged with murder Thursday in the stabbing death of the gregarious and popular Cash App founder Bob Lee last week in downtown San Francisco, authorities said.
Nima Momeni, 38, and Lee, 43, knew each other, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said at a news conference, but he declined to elaborate on their connection. Momeni was taken into custody Thursday morning in Emeryville, a San Francisco suburb, and booked on suspicion of murder.
The stabbing death of Lee shocked the tech industry, with friends and former colleagues mourning the demise of a brilliant and generous man. Police found Lee with stab wounds in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco at 2:30 a.m. April 4. He died at a hospital.
Scott declined to give details on how they linked the killing to Momeni. The chief also refused to disclose a possible motive. Investigators served search warrants in San Francisco and Emeryville. Scott would not say whether a weapon has been found.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that Momeni has been charged with murder in Lee’s death and is expected to be arraigned Friday. Prosecutors will ask a judge to hold him without bail, she said.
