Sister of accused billionaire murderer at center of trial

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The sister of a millionaire technology consultant on trial for the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee is in the middle of courtroom drama.

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Khazar Elyassnia, 38, had reportedly been partying and sleeping with Lee when her brother, 40-year-old Nima Momeni, stabbed Lee to death on April 4, 2023 San Francisco Standard.

A bloodied Lee was found begging for help at 2:30 a.m., about half an hour after he was seen leaving Elyassnia’s house with Momeni.

Prosecutors accuse Momeni of planning the attack after an argument with his sister.

He then allegedly grabbed a knife from Elyassnia’s apartment, drove Lee to a secluded area, stabbed him three times and fled.

“He was stabbed in the heart and left to die,” said Deputy District Attorney Omid Talai. “Our victim was stabbed repeatedly, once in the chest, once in the hip and once literally pierced through the heart.”

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However, Momeni’s lawyers claim their client killed Lee in self-defense. They claim the tech executive, who was chief product officer of cryptocurrency platform MobileCoin when he died, was on drugs and tried to slash Momeni after a day-long brawl.

Lee and Elyassnia were allegedly deep in San Francisco’s affluent party scene known as “The Lifestyle,” where guests took drugs and had casual sex Wall Street Journal previously reported.

The couple attended one of the parties the night of Lee’s murder, where Momeni believed his sister had been drugged and raped, prosecutors argued in their opening arguments.

Momeni wanted revenge on his sister, prosecutors said, but text messages after the killing showed Elyassnia calling her brother “fucking psychotic.”

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The siblings are reportedly close, with a friend telling Mission Local that Momeni would do “absolutely anything” for his sister, “and she would do anything for him.”

The defendant’s lawyers also sought to exclude Lee’s ex-wife Krista from the courtroom after she referred to Elyassnia as “the whore of the high tower,” a reference to the woman’s residence in a luxury high-rise building.

Elyassnia has been with Dr. since 2013. Dino Elyassnia, a plastic surgeon.

He was in court with his wife throughout Momeni’s trial, the Standard reported, but Khazar’s connection to Lee has led many to question the couple’s marriage.

One person told the publication that they met the surgeon’s wife on a dating app in 2019 and went home with her.

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Elyassnia previously denied being sexually assaulted by anyone at the party — and subsequently told her brother that nothing disturbing had happened, according to court documents.

At the time of his death, Lee was found to have both ketamine and cocaine in his system.

Momeni pleaded not guilty to murder.

“Nima had to stand up to someone who had barely slept for 90 hours and was using cocaine the whole time,” lawyer Saam Zangeneh claimed in court standard.

“People who drink cocaine for long periods of time are paranoid, aggressive and violent.”

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