Nima Momeni's relatives decline to comment on how stabbing suspect knew victim Bob Lee
The family of the 38-year-old IT entrepreneur accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee had his first court appearance and declined to answer questions from the media.
The San Francisco woman believed to have partied with Cash App founder Bob Lee at her luxury Millennium Tower apartment the night of his death has been arrested on DUI and hit-and-run charges.
Khazar Momeni, the wife of plastic surgeon Dino Elyassnia and whose brother is charged in Lee's death, crashed her car shortly after 11 a.m. Monday at the intersection of Geary and Larkin Streets in the Tenderloin District, according to San Francisco Police.
Responding officers say they found probable cause to charge her with driving under the influence.
They also filed two hit-and-run charges and accused her of failing to provide proof of insurance and failing to drive within her lane, according to San Francisco Police.
Khazar and Dr. Elyassnia pose by a chess board May 5, 2020. (Vincent Gotti Photography)
A department spokesperson declined to comment further, citing the open investigation, and did not provide specifics of the hit-and-run allegations despite responding officers arresting Momeni, 38. She posted bail earlier this week but has not yet appeared in court.
Her attorneys did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Her brother, Silicon Valley outsourcing entrepreneur Nima Momeni, is due in court today in Lee's April stabbing. The stabbing rocked the city after surveillance video showed the victim stumbling down a sidewalk, clutching at his wounds and begging passersby for help before he collapsed outside a hotel lobby in the waterfront Rincon Hill neighborhood.
According to San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' office, Nima Momeni led Lee out of his sister's apartment building, drove him to a parking lot and allegedly stabbed him while the Miami transplant was visiting on a business trip.
Nima Momeni has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
Nima Momeni takes off his mask in a San Francisco courtroom May 30. He is accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee. (KTVU)
The alleged murder weapon, a knife police say was covered in both Lee’s blood and Nima Momeni’s DNA, came from Khazar Momeni's kitchen, according to police.
Court documents say investigators recovered text messages exchanged between Lee and Khazar Momeni.
In one conversation, she told the tech titan he "handled himself with class" after her brother allegedly "came wayyyyyy down hard" on him.
Bob Lee makes a heart shape with his hands in front of a light display in a photo he posted to Facebook. Lee was stabbed to death April 4, 2023, according to San Francisco Police. (Bob Lee/Facebook)
"[Momeni] drove [Lee] to a dark and secluded area the opposite direction of his hotel," the filing alleges. "We know through a text message from Defendant's sister to Victim, Defendant was previously upset with Victim."
A witness also told police Lee was drinking with his suspected killer's sister the afternoon before his murder and that the two may have been involved in an "intimate relationship," according to the filing.
Read the DA's motion to detain murder suspect Nima Momeni without bail (Mobile users go here)
"Female was married, but the relationship had possibly been in jeopardy," it states.
The night of the murder, the witness told police Momeni was grilling Lee in his hotel room about "whether his sister was doing drugs or anything inappropriate."
Lee tried to assuage Momeni's concerns, the witness said, and left his hotel room after midnight.
Khazar Momeni and her husband, Dr. Dino Elyassnia, pose for a photo May 5, 2020. (Vincent Gotti Photography)
CASH APP FOUNDER BOB LEE DIED WITH DRUGS AND ALCOHOL IN SYSTEM AFTER SAN FRANCISCO STABBING
When Lee was still gone the following morning, the witness told police he reached out to the sister, who said Lee visited her that night "for a second."
"She fell asleep and didn't know when he left," the filing states.
Lee was a father of two.
A Wall Street Journal report in May alleged that Lee and Khazar Momeni traveled in the same social circles engaging in drug use and casual sex, and it identified her brother as a hanger-on outside the group.
Khazar Momeni, the sister of stabbing suspect Nima Momeni, reportedly exchanged text messages with victim Bob Lee, according to court documents. (Vincent Gotti Photography)
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Both Lee's supporters and attorneys for Khazar Momeni have disputed the allegations, and a Lee family friend told Fox News Digital the claims were "highly inaccurate" but declined to comment further.
Lee's autopsy revealed he had cocaine, ketamine and alcohol in his system when he died, as well as the anti-allergy drug levocetirizine. According to the Mayo Clinic, that drug can have bad reactions with alcohol and ketamine.
Fox News' Michael Lundin contributed to this report.
