A tech consultant named Nima Momeni has been sentenced in San Francisco to 16 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. The jury found Momeni guilty of second-degree murder in December 2024 after rejecting his claim of self-defense.
At the sentencing hearing on November 10, members of Lee’s family, including his 18-year-old daughter Scout, spoke to the court. Scout told Momeni that he had destroyed not just her father’s life but also a future filled with potential.
Momeni, dressed in an orange jail suit, claimed he acted in self-defense and expressed understanding for Lee’s family’s loss. However, he maintained that their versions of the events were different.
Lee, a well-known tech leader, was found bleeding on a quiet street in San Francisco after being stabbed three times, including once in the heart. prosecutors alleged that Momeni planned the attack, driving Lee to an isolated area and stabbing him with a knife taken from his sister’s kitchen. They claimed Momeni was angry over Lee’s role in introducing his sister to a drug dealer who supplied her with harmful substances and assaulted her.
Momeni testified that Lee attacked him with a knife after getting upset when he scolded Lee for spending time at a strip club instead of with his family. He said he didn’t realize he had fatally injured Lee.
Lee, who founded Cash App and worked on cryptocurrency projects, had recently moved to Miami before the killing and was visiting California when he died.
The jury ultimately rejected the first-degree murder charge, which would have required proving that Momeni acted with deliberate intent. Instead, they convicted him of second-degree murder, which does not require premeditation.