Nima Momeni, the 38-year-old founder of software company Expand IT, stabbed CashApp founder Bob Lee through the heart after the pair fought about the suspect’s sister and whether they were doing “anything inappropriate,” new court documents released Friday, April 14, allege.
Police claim that before Lee was murdered on the streets of San Francisco in the early hours of April 4, Momeni and the slain tech entrepreneur had talked on the phone about his sister, Khazar Momeni, who is married to someone else.
An unnamed witness told police that Nima questioned Lee about his sister, asking if she was “doing drugs or anything inappropriate.”
Lee, 43, assured Nima that nothing out of bounds had happened.
Police didn’t elaborate on the relationship Lee had with Khazar, who was not named in the court documents.
The witness told police it was unclear if Lee and Khazar had an “intimate relationship.”
That night, Nima drove Lee to a “dark and secluded area” of San Francisco, the charging documents allege, where he stabbed him through the heart with a kitchen knife.
Khazar brought the knife with him from his home, which police said makes clear the murder was “planned and deliberate.”
Khazar texted Lee around the time of his murder to check in on him, the documents claim.
“Just wanted to make sure your doing ok Cause I know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you,” she wrote.
“And thank you for being such a class man handling it with class. Love you Selfish pricks,” Khazar wrote to Lee.
Lee was estranged from his wife, with whom he shared two young girls, and was living in Florida with his dad at the time of his murder.
Nima was arrested Thursday morning, April 13, and prosecutors plan to charge him with murder. He is set to be arraigned on April 25 and faces more than 20 years in prison if convicted.
Video footage from the sister’s apartment shows Lee and Nima in an elevator together at 2:03 a.m. and getting into the alleged killer’s white BMW.
Khazar in court on Friday, April 14, 2023, ahead of an appearance by her brother, Nima Momeni
Grainy video also shows the two standing outside of the BMW for about five minutes in a deserted part of the wealthy Rincon Hills neighborhood, according to the police.
Additional security cameras appear to show Lee walking away injured and the assailant walking near the area where the murder weapon was discovered, but the video isn’t clear enough to show their faces.
The white BMW then sped off, police say.