An arrest has been made in the murder of Cash App’s founder Bob Lee which occurred last week, as stated by a tweet from San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey.
The tech mogul was stabbed to death on the streets of San Francisco in the United States when he visited the city to attend a tech conference from Miami, where he lived. In the early hours of today, the suspect was arrested in the city of Emeryville by the San Francisco Police Department.
Mission Local, a San Francisco-based outlet, disclosed that the murder suspect is a fellow tech executive who lives in the Bay Area. Though there is no clear evidence that the suspect attended the same tech conference as Bob Lee, both men knew each other.
Jail records showed 38-year-old Emeryville resident Nima Momeni was booked on suspicion of murder at 9:19 a.m. Thursday morning. He previously described himself as an information technology consultant and entrepreneur. His LinkedIn profile lists him as an “IT Consultant/Entrepreneur” at a company called Expand IT.
Alameda County court records show that in 2011 was charged with allegedly selling a switchblade knife and driving with a suspended license, both misdemeanours. He pleaded no contest to the suspended license charge the following year, and the knife charge was dismissed. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and three years of probation, fined more than $900 and ordered to destroy the knife.
The suspect and Bob Lee were seen together in a car around 2:30 AM, a few moments before the victim was murdered. According to police sources who have access to security footage, the two men had some altercation that resulted in the attack
.Krista, previously married to Bob Lee, told Fox News 2 that she was still perplexed about the suspect’s motivation but that the two knew each other. CNN reports that Bob Lee’s ex-wife, Krista, said the arrest of a man today for the murder of her ex-husband is the “first step towards justice.”
Bob Lee died in the middle of the night after being repeatedly stabbed in a deserted area of San Francisco’s downtown, in what the city’s district attorney called a “senseless act of violence.” He staggered out of the car and was seen on security camera footage struggling to get around nearby following the attack.
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Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Lee
According to Lee’s friends, he was a top guy with no enemies and would do anything to avoid violence, even to the detriment of losing something valuable. He recently moved his family to Miami, including his two young daughters. The news of his death dealt a huge blow to the tech industry and society at large.
Friends and colleagues of the 43-year-old father and tech executive expressed their dismay at what occurred. “I actually lived right where he was killed, and I used to walk there all the time at night,” Jake Shields, an MMA fighter and Lee’s friend, said. “I gradually began to feel less and less safe. That’s probably why I relocated. I’m currently in Las Vegas.”
“I lived in San Francisco for 20 years,” he continued. “And I feel like you got run out of that city because they’re just, they’re not up-keeping it,” Shields said the two have been good friends for about five years, with plans to meet in Miami as soon as Thursday.
“We were supposed to be hanging out tomorrow night. So that’s a little strange,” he said. “It just happened, so my mind still processing. When you lose someone you’re like, damn, this is not expected. I know he had two daughters as well, whom he loved quite a bit. That adds quite an element of sadness to it.” Shields hopes that Lee is remembered for being a good guy in addition to his high-profile tech resume.
According to Josh Goldbard, CEO of MobileCoin, “Bob was a dynamo, a force of nature. Bob was the genuine article. He was made for the world that is being born right now; he was a child of dreams, and whatever he imagined, no matter how crazy, he made real.”
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