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Khazar Momeni's marriage to Dino Elyassnia was 'possibly in jeopardy', says Bob Lee's longtime friend

Bob Lee's friend told prosecutors that he was not sure whether the late entrepreneur had an 'intimate relationship' with Khazar Momeni

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: CashApp founder Bob Lee was viciously stabbed to death by IT consultant Nima Momeni just hours after the pair fought about the latter’s sister, Khazar, per court documents. Momeni, who has been charged with the murder, reportedly confronted the entrepreneur about whether he was doing “anything inappropriate” with Khazar, who is married to well-known plastic surgeon Dr Dino Elyassnia.

The suspect was arrested at his Emeryville home and booked into a San Francisco jail on Thursday, April 13. Court documents outlined what led to the killing and detailed surveillance footage retrieved by police that appeared to capture the incident. Lee's friend told prosecutors that he was not sure whether the late entrepreneur had an "intimate relationship" with Khazar but believed her marriage to Elyassnia "had possibly been in jeopardy."

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Lee's longtime pal, who spoke to police on condition of anonymity, said he and the late entrepreneur spent much of April 3 drinking with Khazar. Lee and his friend then went to 1 Hotel, where he was staying, and invited Momeni's sister to join them, but she declined the invitation. At the hotel, Momeni dropped by and had an argument with Lee about whether his sister was doing drugs or anything inappropriate. Lee had to convince him that nothing inappropriate had occurred, per court records. 

Lee and his pal reportedly hung out until parting ways around 12.30 am. Lee subsequently went to Millennium Tower to visit Khazar, who is a registered owner of a unit in the coveted Downtown San Francisco building.

'The relationship had possibly been in jeopardy'

The witness told police he wasn't sure if Lee and Khazar were in an "intimate relationship," per court documents. While she was married to Elyassnia, "the relationship had possibly been in jeopardy," they said. The next morning the friend called Khazar to ask if Lee had visited her apartment. She told them he stopped by "for a second," but she fell asleep and had no idea when he left.

Police were able to unlock Lee's phone as part of an investigation and found he had had a FaceTime call with Khazar, but court documents don't reveal when exactly that conversation took place. However, at one point, she texted him, “Just wanted to make sure your doing OK Cause I know nima came wayyyyyy down hard on you And thank you for being such a classy man handling it with class Love you Selfish pricks.” 

'This was something that he intended to do'

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said her office was treating the homicide as a case of premeditated murder. “This is a person who was in his vehicle with a kitchen knife," Jenkins noted, adding, “That’s not something most of us carry around at all times with us—and so this was something that he intended to do."

According to police, Momeni lived in Emeryville, a small city across the Bay from San Francisco. A LinkedIn profile that has been linked to the suspect showed he is a tech consultant and an entrepreneur.

Meanwhile, Lee was the chief product officer at the cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin Inc. at the time of his death. He is best known for creating the popular Cash App, which allows users to transfer money, buy crypto, as well as trade stocks. Lee is said to have made the app while serving as chief technology officer at Square Inc., now known as Block Inc., where he worked from 2010 to 2014, The San Francisco Standard reported.