The tech exec jailed for the fatal stabbing of CashApp founder Bob Lee has a previous arrest for carrying a switchblade – and potentially lied about attending a prestigious Bay Area school.
Facing a murder charge for the high-profile stabbing, Iranian-American tech consultant Nima Momeni was arrested on Thursday.
The arrest happened nine days after Lee’s April 4 stabbing sent shockwaves throughout the Bay Area, after many assumed the millionaire’s murder the work of a vagrant given the city’s crime situation.
Cops have since revealed the killing was not random and Lee, 43, and the suspect had known each other – information that spurred a boastful statement from the city’s Mayor London Breed, who is facing criticism for her city’s raising crime.
Meanwhile, new details about Momeni continue to come to light. Supposedly a graduate of UC Berkley, the school says they have no record the 38-year-old ever attended. The condo where he was arrested – a rental – doubled as his home and workspace. As for his IT company, neighbors said he is its sole employee.
Cops so far have kept mum about the extent of his relationship with Lee, only confirming they ‘knew each other.’ Police sources, however, say the pair met through Momeni’s sister – the owner of a luxury apartment blocks from where Lee was found.
Facing a murder charge for the high-profile stabbing, Iranian-American tech consultant Nima Momeni was arrested on Thursday.
The founder of Cash App, 43-year-old Bob Lee was stabbed to death on April 4. News that Molemi, a confirmed acquaintance of the exec, surprised many, after many assumed the millionaire’s murderer to be a vagrant given the city’s crime situation
That said, Lee does not have a violent criminal history – despite being arrested for a few misdemeanors including the 2011 one involving the illegal blade, which cops said he had been illegally selling.
The charge was ultimately dismissed, records show, after the then-26-year-old pleaded guilty to another charge of driving with a suspended license stemming from a DUI – earning him 10 days in county jail.
Both offenses were classified as misdemeanors, and ultimately saw the the perp jailed for ten days and put on three years’ probation. Early Thursday, Momeni was arrested yet again, and charged with Lee’s murder.
The case made its way through the California criminal courts in early 2011, records show – around the time the Iranian-American tech consultant, Nima Momeni, is said to have formed Bay Area startup Expand IT.
In 2004, the a tech entrepreneur – who migrated to the US with his mother sometime after the Iranian revolution – was charged with driving while intoxicated.
On Thursday morning, Momeni was arrested again, after being tracked down to his swanky loft inside a converted industrial condominium complex.
Officers arrived around 5 am, with neighbors reporting hearing loud bangs from police officers knocking on the accused murderer’s door.
Momeni reportedly was apprehended without incident – leaving the spacious unit he had been living and working out of vacant.
The arrest happened nine days after Lee’s April 4 stabbing sent shockwaves throughout the Bay Area
On Thursday morning, Momeni was arrested again, after being tracked down to his swanky loft inside this converted industrial condominium complex.
Momeni reportedly was apprehended without incident – leaving the spacious unit he had been living and working out of vacant
Nima Momeni was arrested at his loft (pictured) in Emeryville this morning. During a tour of the businessman’s unit – which records indicate is a rental – one neighbor recalled how Momeni’s home office contained a pool table and a host of expensive tech equipment
Accounts garnered from local outlets suggest the Momeni met Lee through his sister, Khazar Momeni (pictured), the wife of a prominent San Francisco plastic surgeon
When questioned by the San Francisco Chronicle Thursday, tenants described Momeni as ‘warm and welcoming’, recalling how he would regularly work late into the night while running his IT firm.
One resident in the building – where condos routinely sell for more than $800,000 – recalled how the techie liked cars, boats and women, with some adding he recently developed an interest in firearms and knives.
During a tour of the businessman’s unit – which records indicate is a rental – one neighbor recalled how Momeni’s home office contained a pool table and a host of expensive tech equipment, presumably to run his company.
According to Momeni’s LinkedIn, the startup offers outsourcing of IT services like cybersecurity and website hosting, including to companies that work in health care, law and manufacturing, as well as other startups.
‘We take care of the technical heavy lifting, so you can focus on growing your enterprise,’ a description for the company reads. Momeni also claims to represent several nonprofits and government clients.
The company’s official website and LinkedIn profile were both deleted Thursday, as news of the relatively small-time techie’s arrest began to spread.
On Momeni’s profile, he writes that he attended UC Berkeley – a claim that has since surfaced as dubious as a spokesperson said Thursday the university has no record of anyone attending or graduating under his name.
As for how he came into contact with Lee – who resided in Miami and had been in San Francisco on business – police Thursday would only say the attack was not random.
On Momeni’s LinkedInprofile, he writes that he attended UC Berkeley – a claim that has since surfaced as dubious as a spokesperson said Thursday the university has no record of anyone attending or graduating under his name.
Momeni has a previous arrest for carrying a switchblade and driving with a suspended license
Both offenses were classified as misdemeanors, and ultimately saw the the perp jailed for ten days and put on three years’ probation. Early Thursday, Momeni was arrested yet again, and charged with Lee’s murder
‘We can confirm Mr. Lee and Mr. Momeni knew each other,’ Police Chief Bill Scott said.
However, accounts garnered from local outlets suggest the two may have known each other through Momeni’s sister, Khazar Momeni, who they said recently met Lee.
She is married with the wife of a prominent plastic surgeon, Dr. Dino Elyassnia, whose practice is also based in San Francisco.
Khazar, also known as Khazar Elyassnia, is the registered owner of an apartment in the Millennium, an upscale building located just four blocks from where Lee was found bleeding to death, and a block from the hotel where he had been saying.
Police sources further revealed to The Standard that one of three search warrants executed by San Francisco cops Thursdayduring Momeni’s arrest was at his sisters’ residence, though cops themselves would only confirms to searching three residences including Momeni’s.
A friend of Lee’s told publication they believe Lee and Momeni been partying the night before the stabbing, into early Tuesday.
Other accounts suggested the two men had driving together through downtown San Francisco in Momeni’s car, before coming to some sort of dispute
San Francisco Mayor London Breed this weekend urged people not to ‘jump to conclusions’ about the high profile murder, and said people would be ‘surprised’ when the facts come out’
Amid this outflow of information, Mayor London Breed decried the press for reports lumping the stabbing with other incidents of violence seen under her administration.
‘When the facts of many of these cases come out, many people are going to be surprised,’ Breed said Wednesday, adding local and national reports surrounding the case have left a false impression on safety in city.
‘It has really heightened events like this – as well as people jumping to conclusions about what they think is happening.’
Momeni has already been hit with a murder charge from the city’s DA office, is expected to be arraigned in court Friday morning.
