Bodies of Russian businessman, wife found in UAE desert

The bodies of Russian crypto-entrepreneur Roman Novak and his wife have been discovered in the United Arab Emirates.

They were found in a deserted area roughly two weeks ago, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media.

News of the couple’s killing first emerged in October, after relatives contacted police. The pair had been in the UAE and were expected to meet investors in the city of Hatta.

The Novaks were lured to the villa under the pretext of negotiations with an investor. There, they were attacked by three men — Konstantin Shakht, Yuri Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin. The couple were cut with knives, seated facing each other so they would watch each other die.

Investigators initially believed the kidnappers demanded a large sum of money that Novak was thought to hold in a cryptocurrency wallet.

The bodies of Novak and his wife were reportedly dismembered with axes and buried in the desert.

Russian law enforcement has detained those alleged to be involved in the killing, with the Interior Ministry stating that the suspects had rented a vehicle and premises in advance to hold the couple.

By Jeyhun Aghazada