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Russian Couple Found Dead in UAE Desert in Grisly £380 Million Crypto Kidnap Plot

A Russian couple was tortured and killed in the United Arab Emirates after being kidnapped by criminals attempting to steal an estimated £380 million from their cryptocurrency accounts, in a case that underscores the lethal dangers shadowing the digital asset world.

A harrowing kidnap-for-ransom plot targeting cryptocurrency wealth has ended in a double murder in the United Arab Emirates. The victims, Russian nationals Roman and Anna Novak, were lured to a resort near Hatta under false pretenses before being abducted, tortured, and killed, according to international reports and UAE police.

The couple, parents to two young children, were targeted by assailants posing as potential investors. After their abduction, the kidnappers subjected them to torture in an attempt to force the disclosure of access codes to crypto wallets reportedly containing £380 million. Forensic investigations later revealed those wallets were empty.

The case took a dark turn when the victims’ remains were discovered over a month later in a desert area near the Oman border, close to where their mobile phones last transmitted signals. Police evidence indicates the couple was forced to watch each other being tortured before they were killed.

Authorities have arrested three Russian men in connection with the meticulously planned crime. Those charged include Konstantin Shakht, a former police officer, along with Yury Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin. While Sharypov and Dalekin have entered guilty pleas, Shakht has denied the charges. All three remain in custody as the investigation continues.

The investigation revealed a network of accomplices who facilitated the abduction by providing vehicles and locations to hold the victims. After the murders, the perpetrators allegedly destroyed evidence—including knives and the couple’s personal belongings—and disposed of the bodies in separate locations across the Emirates.

Roman Novak had a controversial financial history, having previously been jailed in Russia for large-scale fraud. After relocating to the UAE, he launched a cryptocurrency application that allegedly raised £380 million from investors, funds he was later accused of defrauding them of.

The brutal case highlights the extreme risks associated with high-value cryptocurrency holdings, where digital wealth can make individuals targets for sophisticated and violent criminal enterprises, far from the reach of conventional financial safeguards.

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