Odaily reports that Russian cryptocurrency fraudster Roman Novak and his wife Anna were found kidnapped and murdered in the United Arab Emirates in connection with the extortion of digital assets. Novak, previously convicted of a large-scale fraud in St. Petersburg, moved to Dubai, where he developed the Fintopio crypto app and allegedly raised hundreds of millions of dollars from new investors.

The couple reportedly disappeared after attending an investor conference and were later confirmed to have been lured to a rented villa and kidnapped. The kidnappers attempted to force Novak to hand over access to a large sum of cryptocurrency funds. After failing to do so, Novak and his wife were murdered. Seven suspects have been arrested in the UAE and Russia. (CryptoSlate)