The harrowing final hours of a cryptocurrency couple, Roman Novak and his wife Anna, have been revealed after their bodies were found wrapped in plastic and buried in concrete in a remote desert area of the United Arab Emirates. The couple, who had moved to Dubai from Russia, vanished in October.
Roman, 38, and Anna, 37, were allegedly lured to a rented villa in Hatta under the pretence of meeting potential investors. They were driven partway by their personal driver before being picked up in another car. It is believed they were tortured at the home for access to their crypto wallets.
Friends received messages a few hours later saying the couple were “stuck in the mountains on the Oman border” and urgently needed £152,000, before all contact was lost. Signals from their mobile phones continued for several days, first within the UAE and later near Cape Town, South Africa, with the last ‘ping’ on October 4. Investigators believe the phones were turned on in different locations as a ‘smokescreen’ to confuse police.
Three people have been arrested in Saint Petersburg in connection with the double murder. One suspect, former police officer Konstantin Shakht, 53, is believed to have arranged the hit. Two other suspects have reportedly admitted to the killing, while Shakht denies all charges.
Roman, from Saint Petersburg, was the founder of cryptocurrency transfer platform Fintopio, which raised around £370 million after its launch in 2023 but abruptly closed for an “operational review” in October, leaving users with no access to their funds. He had previously served three years in a Russian prison for crypto fraud before moving to Dubai.
The couple’s two young children were not with their parents when they died. Anna’s father and stepmother have flown to Dubai to care for them. The remains of Roman and Anna are due to be returned to Russia.
