A tech consultant was arrested and charged with murder Thursday in the stabbing death of the gregarious and popular Cash App founder Bob Lee last week in downtown San Francisco, authorities said.
Nima Momeni, 38, and Lee, 43, knew each other, according to San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott at a news conference, although he declined to elaborate. Momeni was arrested and detained on suspicion of murder in Emeryville, a San Francisco suburb, on Thursday morning.
Lee’s slaying stunned the IT industry, with friends and former colleagues lamenting the loss of a talented and generous guy. At 2:30 a.m. on April 4, police discovered Lee with stab wounds in San Francisco’s Rincon Hill area. He passed away in a hospital.
Scott refused to elaborate on how the killing was tied to Momeni. In addition, the chief declined to reveal a possible motive. Search warrants were served in San Francisco and Emeryville. Scott would not indicate whether or not a weapon had been discovered.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement that Momeni had been charged with murder in Lee’s death and is expected to be arraigned Friday. Prosecutors will ask a judge to hold him without bail, she said.
It was not immediately clear whether Momeni had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
On his LinkedIn profile, Momeni describes himself as an “IT Consultant/Entrepreneur” as well as the owner of a company called Expand IT. Business filings with the state list Momeni as the chief executive officer, secretary, and chief financial officer of Expand IT INC, described as an information technology consulting business. He signed the filing in August 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Momeni has been “a dedicated technology partner since 2005” and he started to Expand IT in 2010.
Criminal records show Momeni was charged with carrying a switchblade in 2011, a misdemeanor offense. The case was dismissed the following year after he took a plea.
Lee is known for creating the widely used mobile payment service Cash App while working as chief technology officer of the payment company Square, now known as Block. He was the chief product officer for the cryptocurrency firm MobileCoin at the time of his death.
Lee was raised in Missouri and had recently moved to Miami with his father, but was back in San Francisco for business when he was killed. Friends described him as adventurous, fearless, and a doting father to his two children.
“I acknowledge and understand how the loss of a young, vibrant leader and innovator has rocked our city and even beyond,” Jenkins said at the news conference.
Lee’s brother, Tim Oliver Lee, posted on Facebook the family’s gratitude to the San Francisco Police Department for catching the suspect. Tim Lee said his brother dreamed of making technology accessible to all and that he made friends from all walks of life.
“Bob adored San Francisco, and San Francisco adored Bob.” “It was sometimes difficult to walk down the street because every young person with a dream would seek him out, and he would make time for everyone,” his brother wrote.
Following Lee’s murder, notable tech executives, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, flocked to Twitter to lament Lee’s death and chastise San Francisco for the city’s “lax attitude toward crime.”
Musk tweeted at Jenkins, saying that crime in San Francisco is “horrific” and that even when attackers are caught, they are often immediately released.
“I must point out that reckless and irresponsible statements like those contained in Mr. Musk tweet that assumed incorrect circumstances about Mr. Lee’s death serve to mislead the world in their perceptions of San Francisco,” Jenkins said.
