Nima Momemi, who knew Lee, allegedly stabbed him to death last week
San Francisco police have arrested a suspect in the killing of Cash App creator Bob Lee. Police identified the suspect as Nima Momeni, a 38-year-old tech executive, during a press conference on Thursday.
While the motive for the crime is still unclear, police confirmed Lee and Momeni knew each other. According to a report by Mission Local, the two men purportedly were in Momeni’s car when they got into an argument, prompting Lee to exit the vehicle. Momeni then allegedly stabbed Lee multiple times before abandoning his knife.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Momeni, who works for a company called Expand IT, describes himself as a “dedicated technology partner since 2005, supporting a variety of client vertical markets in healthcare, finance, high tech/startup, technology, manufacturing and service sectors.”
San Francisco Chronicle reports that Momeni was previously charged with allegedly selling a switchblade knife (the charge was later dismissed) and for driving with a suspended license, to which he pleaded no contest. According to the paper, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years of probation, adding that he had to pay a $900 fine and get rid of the knife. He also was charged another time with driving while intoxicated.
At the press conference, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins specifically chided Elon Musk for spreading “misinformation” when he tweeted about Lee’s death. At the time, he accused the San Fransico police of releasing attackers “immediately,” allowing them to strike again.
“I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr. Musk’s tweet that assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee’s death served to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco and also negatively impacted the pursuit of justice for victims of crime, as it spreads misinformation at a time when the police are trying to solve a very difficult case,” she said. “We all should and must be better about not contributing to the spread of such misinformation without having actual facts to underly the statements that we make.”
Lee — who, in addition to creating Cash App was an executive at the cryptocurrency company MobileCoin — was stabbed to death last Tuesday. Police responded to reports of the stabbing, and “Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries,” the SFPD said in a statement at the time.
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Beloved by his colleagues — MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard called Lee “a dynamo, a force of nature,” in a statement — the tech exec had also invested in SpaceX, Clubhouse, and Figma. He worked at Google and Square before launching Cash App in 2013. The app quickly attracted sponsorship deals with Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, and Cardi B.
