TechFlow news, November 9 — According to Cryptoslate, Russian entrepreneur Roman Novak and his wife Anna were kidnapped and killed in the UAE. Roman Novak had previously defrauded investors of millions of dollars through various cryptocurrency projects. In 2020, he was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud. After serving his sentence, Novak relocated to Dubai, where he launched the cryptocurrency application Fintopio and reportedly raised hundreds of millions of dollars from new investors. In early October, Roman Novak and his wife traveled to Hatta to attend what appeared to be a promising investor meeting; Hatta is near the border between the UAE and Oman. However, they switched vehicles and subsequently disappeared without a trace.
After several days with no contact, Novak's relatives reported the couple missing. Authorities from Russia and the UAE launched an investigation, suspecting that the couple had been lured under false pretenses to a rented villa, where a planned business meeting turned into a kidnapping for ransom. The kidnappers attempted to force Roman Novak to hand over substantial amounts of cryptocurrency, reportedly stored in wallets and accounts linked to his app and prior fraudulent schemes. When the extortion failed, tragedy followed: both Roman Novak and his wife were killed.
