Friends of tech executive Nima Momeni, who is accused of the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, said his life “fell apart” in the weeks and months leading up to the alleged stabbing.
Momeni, 38, is accused of murdering Lee around 2:35 a.m. in San Francisco on April 4 after spending about two hours with him at his married sister Khazar’s home.
Prosecutors have previously claimed Momeni stabbed Bob Lee in the heart after he vowed to “tap tough action on him” and questioned him about his relationship with Khazar, with whom the Cash App founder exchanged intimate text messages.
His friends and colleagues describe a man struggling with his drug addiction “which left him unable to think and speak”, fascinated by guns and a history riddled with allegations of abuse from an ex-girlfriend.
“It’s one of those things where [we’d say]”Nima, you’re cool, we love you, but you can’t form full sentences,” a longtime friend who asked to remain anonymous told Mission Local.
Friends of tech executive Nima Momeni, who is accused of the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, said his life “fell apart” in the weeks and months leading up to the alleged stabbing.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Momeni’s attorney, Paula Canny, replied. “I don’t think he had a drug problem, a serious drug problem.” Based on the information I have, I certainly wouldn’t classify him as a drug addict.”
Canny has said her client will plead not guilty.
However, the friend noted that he was very close to Sister Khazar, to the detriment of other friendships.
“I don’t know who Nima considered his closest group besides his sister,” they said. “He would do absolutely anything for her and she would do anything for him.”
Hours before his assassination, Nima had questioned Lee about his relationship with Khazar, who is married to a prominent local plastic surgeon, and wanted to know if she had been “on drugs” or had anything “inappropriate” while spending time with him.
Momeni’s ex-girlfriend, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested the tech executive’s father “created a monster.”
“He expressed extreme hatred for his father,” she added, saying the family may have fled Iran to escape him.
Politically, Momeni was a little hard to understand, having donated to Vermont socialist Bernie Sanders in 2016 before donating to President Trump’s re-election campaign in 2020.
A friend noted that Momeni was very close to Sister Khazar, to the detriment of other friendships
After an appearance in late April, Nima Momeni gets up to leave the courtroom
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins speaks at a news conference following a court appearance by Nima Momeni at the Hall of Justice in San Francisco
Momeni had been living the American dream and seemed to be finding success in his 20s when he founded Expand IT, a company providing IT services, in 2010 after working as an IT administrator at Ace Glass.
However, several friends described Expand IT as a “hilarious shit show”.
“He couldn’t keep anyone and not end up ripping them off about something they didn’t know — I mostly saw it as his fault,” a friend said, adding that his substance abuse — including a daily use of cocaine — likely affected him.
In 2023 it was not certain if Momeni actually employed anyone at Expand IT as all calls to his business number were answered with an automated message through his voice.
Canny denied this, saying Momeni had “several contractors” working at the company, but did not appear to clarify whether they were full-time employees.
According to an ex-girlfriend, his personal life has also been problematic.
“He wasn’t nice behind closed doors,” she said. “Probably called me the worst swear words I’ve ever had.”
She also said he would be menacing and possessive and would not like it when he spoke to other men. She suspected that he would eventually physically abuse her.
Nima Momeni (right) listens to his lawyer, Paula Canny, who has said his former friends’ descriptions do not match their experience with Momeni
Momeni had been living the American dream and seemed to be finding success in his 20s when he founded Expand IT, a company providing IT services, in 2010 after working as an IT administrator at Ace Glass
Judge Victor Hwang is leading the arraignment against Nima Momeni, the man charged with the fatal stabbing of Cash App founder Bob Lee on Tuesday, May 2
According to police records, in August 2022, he was physically abused at his home in California by pushing a woman and dragging her to her grave.
“She thinks he may be bipolar because one minute he’ll be fine and the next he’ll erupt for no reason,” said a police report, which said it was never battery-charged.
“I honestly think he’s creepy, and I always thought he was creepy — after I met him,” the ex-girlfriend said.
The outlet claimed that he also dealt frequently with sex workers and that his behavior towards them led to his phone number appearing on a website where potentially dangerous clients were shared.
Several reviews have described him as “a border crosser” and one accused him of “pulling my hair after I said not to do it”.
Another review acknowledged his cocaine use and described him as “heavily armed,” while others accused him of possessing spirit weapons, the outlet reported.
“He loved his guns. “He talked about his guns all the time,” said another former ex-girlfriend of Momeni, who also said he kept a lot of knives. “He was a fan of violence.”
Canny denies allegations about Momeni’s behavior towards women and whether he owned firearms.
Khazar Momeni and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Dino Elyassnia, at the indictment against her brother today. Prosecutors laid out part of her case today and she is at the center of her brother’s alleged motive
Nima Momeni (left) vowed a few hours before the stabbing that she had “been tough on Lee.” Prosecutors believe the attack was a planned attack, in which he stabbed Lee in the heart with a kitchen knife
On April 4, security cameras caught Lee staggering into an apartment building in downtown San Francisco at 2:35 a.m. after being stabbed. Police searched the nearby home of Momeni’s sister Khazar yesterday. It’s unclear if they had been together or at the apartment earlier in the night
“I don’t think he’s ever owned a gun, I just don’t think he has,” Canny said, adding that she doesn’t know for sure. “As far as I know, I don’t think a search of Nima’s home the night police arrested him found anything of evidential value.”
She added: “I don’t know how to react to that either; That’s not my experience with Nima,” when asked about his abusive behavior, noting that “everyone has enemies” who wanted to tarnish their reputation.
has reached out to Canny and the Momeni family for further comment.
The day after the murder, a friend contacted Khazar and asked if Lee had gone to her apartment.
She said he had time “for a second,” but she “fell asleep” and didn’t know when he left, according to the outlet.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has charged Momeni with murder, along with another charge of special favors for using a knife.
In the application filed today, her office said it was a premeditated attack by the angry brother.
Surveillance footage is said to have recorded the stabbing in Momeni’s BMW.
He then sped off, throwing his knife into the street and sending Lee staggering through the streets of San Francisco in a last-ditch effort to stay alive.
Momeni is depicted in a court sketch today. His sister was in the courtroom to support him. The couple immigrated to the United States from Iran as children
He was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries.
Lee’s family have vowed to work with prosecutors to bring Momeni “to justice.”
In a joint statement last night, they thanked the police for the arrest.
San Francisco officials have also welcomed the fact that the killing was not accidental or a symptom of the city’s growing crime problem, as many had assumed.
Momeni was denied bail and will remain in detention pending his next court hearing.
Neighbors told he was “warm and welcoming” and they were stunned by his arrest.
Online, he claims to be a UC Berkeley graduate, but the school says there is no record of him ever taking any classes.