The death of the founder of the jury in Cash App falls into the verdict

A jury in San Francisco reached a verdict Monday afternoon in the high-profile murder case of Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee last year.

The verdict is scheduled to be read at 9:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court. The jury had been deliberating since December 4th in a trial that began in October.

Prosecutors alleged that 40-year-old Momeni, a self-described tech entrepreneur, stabbed Lee three times in April 2023 with a knife he took from Momeni’s sister’s kitchen set.

They alleged that Momeni planned and carried out the murder after learning that the Cash App founder had introduced Momeni’s sister to a drug dealer who allegedly gave her GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) and other drugs before taking her to his sexually abused apartment. GHB has a depressant effect on the nervous system.

SURVEILLANCE VIDEO SHOWS CASH APP FOUNDER SHARE KOKIN WITH A KNIFE BEFORE DEATH, DEFENSE CLAIM

Nima Momeni (left) was accused of fatally stabbing Cash App founder Bob Lee (right). (Nima Momeni/LinkedIn, Bob Lee/Facebook)

Momeni lured Lee to a secluded spot on the Bay Bridge, where he stabbed him to death before driving away in his car, prosecutors say. Prosecutors said Lee’s blood was found on the blade and Momeni’s DNA was found on the handle, KTVU FOX 2 reported.

Momeni’s defense attorney said he stabbed Lee in an act of self-defense as he tried to fend off an attack by Lee, who was laughing at a bad joke. They say Lee was on a multi-day cocaine and alcohol binge and, because of the joke, attacked Momeni with a knife, forcing Momeni to defend herself.

He testified during the trial that Lee later walked away and showed no signs that he was injured. If found guilty, Momeni faces 26 years to life in prison.

Nima Momeni, the man charged in the fatal stabbing attack on Cash App founder Bob Lee, enters the courtroom for his arraignment on May 2, 2023 in San Francisco. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, Pool, File)

Momeni’s lawyers played bombshell surveillance video during closing arguments that allegedly showed Lee using a knife to snort cocaine hours before his death. They argued it was the same knife Lee used to confront their client about the joke that led to the altercation.

Momeni testified that he stopped his car after hitting a pothole, causing Lee to spill the beer he was holding. Momeni said he then joked and suggested that Lee spend the last night of his visit with his family instead of trying to find a strip club to keep the party going.

Then, he says, Lee pulled the knife out of his jacket pocket and attacked.

Surveillance video showed the two men leaving the apartment of the defendant’s sister, Khazar Momeni, at around 2 a.m. on April 4, 2023, and getting into Momeni’s BMW.

Other surveillance footage showed them getting out of the car near the Bay Bridge, where the stabbing occurred.

Lee was found staggering on a deserted street in downtown San Francisco at 2:30 a.m., leaving a trail of blood behind him and calling for help. He later died in a hospital.

Lee was living in Miami but was visiting the Bay Area when he was killed.

Bob Lee points to his eyes while sitting in an elevator with Nima Momeni in black-and-white surveillance video. (KTVU)

“I made a bad joke. I said if it was my last night in town, I would hang out with my family instead of f——ing around in strip clubs. “He was very angry,” Momeni said, according to KRON.

However, prosecutors ridicule Momeni’s story, pointing out that he never called the police to report Lee’s alleged attack, not even after learning that Lee was on the street where he last saw him had died from stab wounds.

A courtroom sketch shows Nima Momeni’s appearance in court as prosecutor Omid Talai makes opening statements during his trial on Monday, October 14, 2024, in San Francisco, California. Momeni faces murder charges in the 2023 murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee. (Vicki Ellen Behringer)

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Lee developed mobile payment service Cash App in 2013 while working at Block, formerly known as Square. The app is a digital wallet that allows users to send, receive or save money.

Greg Norman of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.