WATCH Russian police arrest suspects in crypto-scammer’s murder
Russian police have arrested a number of suspects said to be linked to the murder of a St. Petersburg couple in the United Arab Emirates, the Interior Ministry announced on Friday.
The two victims were cryptocurrency investor Roman Novak and his wife Anna, law enforcement sources told RT Russian earlier in the day. In 2020, a St. Petersburg court sentenced Novak to six years imprisonment on two counts of fraud, but he was released early.
Police on Friday arrested several suspects linked to their disappearance, according to footage shared by the Interior Ministry.
Multiple members of the criminal group were apprehended across several Russian regions, ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said.
According to preliminary findings shared by Russia’s Investigative Committee, the suspects kidnapped the victims in the UAE in October to extort cryptocurrency from them. Novak and his wife were living in Dubai at the time.
The group later killed the couple and buried their bodies in the desert, discarding the murder weapons and the victims’ personal belongings in various areas of the UAE, it added. Accomplices helped the group organize the kidnapping, and rented cars and the premises where the victims were held, the Investigative Committee said.
Emirati law enforcement are helping Russian authorities in the ongoing investigation, it added.
Relatives of the victims reported their disappearance to St. Petersburg authorities after they went missing following a supposed meet-up with investors on October 2.
