Nima Momeni to appeal 16-year sentence for murder of Bob Lee

This week, Nima Momeni received a prison sentence of 16 years to life for the murder of Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App and MobileCoin, three years after the killing.

According to reports, Momeni's legal team intends to appeal the sentencing handed down by Judge Alexandra Gordon of San Francisco Superior Court.

The San Francisco Standard reported that Momeni filed a motion for a new trial, claiming ineffective assistance of counsel as well as misconduct by prosecutors and jurors.

However, Gordon rejected the motion during a rebuttal that lasted an hour.

Bob Lee's firm was a likely contributor to FTX's insolvency

Lee co-founded Cash App in 2013 and launched MobileCoin in 2021. The token, offered through an initial coin offering, traded below $2 in December 2020, climbed above $71 in 2021, and currently sits at approximately seven cents.

Earlier reporting by Protos indicated that MobileCoin might have played a role in the insolvency of the FTX exchange well before the Terra/Luna collapse in May 2022.

Momeni argued he acted in self-defense

On the night of the fatal stabbing, Lee and Khazar Momeni, Nima's sister, visited the home of drug dealer Jeremy Boivin.

Lee departed, and Khazar says she later consumed the date rape drug GHB, which Boivin had provided.

Khazar claims that Boivin then sexually assaulted her on two occasions before her brother arrived to collect her.

Video evidence shows Lee arriving at Khazar's residence, then leaving with Nima around 2 a.m. CCTV footage captures Nima stabbing Lee with a kitchen knife.

Prosecutors stated that the murder of Bob Lee was premeditated.

Momeni testified that he acted in self-defense, saying a bad joke 'just set him off,' and asserted that he deflected an attempt by Lee to stab him.

According to evidence, Lee sustained three stab wounds, and Momeni's DNA was the only DNA found on the knife handle.

Prosecutors argued that the alleged sexual assault motivated Momeni to stab Lee. They also pointed to text messages between Momeni and his sister that, they said, contradicted what was seen on video.

The jury in 2024 rejected Momeni's self-defense argument and found him guilty.