Murder of crypto businessman Roman Novak in the UAE was prepared for almost six months

Six months of preparation and changed scenarios

The murder of crypto entrepreneur Roman Novak and his wife Anna was prepared for almost six months, with the perpetrators repeatedly changing their methods of committing the crime. This was reported to RIA Novosti by Yuri Yashkov, head of the department for especially important cases of the St. Petersburg main directorate of the Investigative Committee. According to him, the murder had been in preparation since May 2025, and the final scenario was developed over about two months.

From poisoning to a 'meeting with an investor'

The investigation established that the criminals considered several options for eliminating the businessman. At first they intended to use a poisonous substance handed over by the alleged mastermind in a syringe, but testing the poison on an animal proved unsuccessful. They also discussed the possibility of staging the entrepreneur's death in the ocean while he was living in Thailand. In the end, the couple was lured into negotiations with a supposedly interested investor: the conversation was to take place at a villa, where they were killed, and their bodies were taken to the desert and buried. The remains were found only in November 2025.

Those involved in the case

Three people have been detained in the criminal case: Vladimir Dalekin, Yuri Sharypov and Konstantin Shakht, who previously served in the St. Petersburg police. In October it became known that Dalekin had died in hospital after being held in a pre-trial detention center; the other defendants remain in custody. The investigation does not rule out that the crime may have been committed on contract. The tragedy occurred in the autumn of 2025 in the UAE, where the family permanently resided in Dubai; Novak worked in the digital assets sphere, and some media outlets linked his activities to financial fraud.