In a shocking incident, the bodies of a Russian crypto millionaire, Roman Novak, and his wife, Ana, were found dismembered in a desert in Dubai. The couple had gone missing in early October while driving to meet “unidentified investors” by a lake in Dubai’s mountain resort of Hatta.
Police believe the couple was kidnapped and later murdered after the ransom plot went fatally wrong.
Who were Roman and Ana Novak?
The Russian couple, hailing from St. Petersburg in Russia, were known for their flashy lifestyle and often displayed their lifestyle featuring fast cars and private jets on social media. They reportedly had wealthy contacts, including the billionaire owner of the Telegram social media empire, Pavel Durov.
The couple was last seen on October 2 heading for the meeting with “unidentified investors”. As per reports, their driver dropped them off near a lake in the remote Hatta area, close to the border with Oman. They got down from their vehicle and travelled in a second vehicle. Ever since, there was no contact from them.
However, there were reports that Roman sent a message to his contacts that he was stranded in the mountains on the Oman border and desperately needed $200,000.
After their relatives could not get hold of the couple, they approached the police. Their mobile phones were reportedly in Hatta and Oman, and later in Cape Town in South Africa, before the signal vanished completely on October 4. They had two children, who were taken by their grandparents back to St Petersburg.
According to Russian authorities, the couple were lured into the fake business meeting by Russian citizens Konstantin Shakht, a former police officer, along with Yury Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin. They have since been arrested.
Shakht and the others reportedly lured the Novaks to a fake business meeting in Hatta. They had accomplices who helped organise the abduction. They rented cars and premises where the victims were held by force. However, after the ransom plot fell apart, the perpetrators murdered the couple, disposed of the weapon and bodies. They accused them and fled to Russia.
Roman Novak, a convicted fraudster
Roman Novak is also a convicted fraudster who founded a platform named Fintopio, which promised rapid crypto transfers and drew significant investment from Russia, China, and the Middle East. He then reportedly fled with $500 million.
He was convicted in November 2020 for large-scale fraud and sentenced to six years in a St. Petersburg prison. He was granted parole and moved abroad to the UAE in 2023.