[Regnum] The remains of Russian citizen Roman Novak and his wife, who disappeared after being kidnapped and tortured, have been discovered in the United Arab Emirates. This was reported on December 1 by a source familiar with the investigation.
According to him, the couple's bodies were hidden in the desert.
"They were encased in concrete. The remains were found back in November," a source told KP-Petersburg.
Law enforcement agencies are currently considering whether to transfer the remains found to Russia for examination and subsequent burial.
Novak was a known crypto trader and had previously been convicted in St. Petersburg of large-scale fraud. After his release, he frequently visited the Emirates, where he lived with his family and worked on digital asset exchange projects.
The couple lost contact in October. According to media reports, their phones appeared in various locations, including Oman and South Africa, for a while after their disappearance, but then lost signal. It was suspected that their disappearance may have been related to an attempt to obtain large sums of cryptocurrency.
NO! Reeeallly?
On November 7, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the arrest of several members of a criminal group suspected of kidnapping and murdering Novak and his wife. According to the agency, the suspects attempted to extort cryptocurrency from the couple, then killed them and hid their bodies in the desert. A criminal case has been opened for the murder of two or more persons, and arrests took place in St. Petersburg, the Krasnodar Territory, and the Stavropol Territory. Three suspects were remanded in custody.