Overview
- Authorities in St. Petersburg detained former police officer Konstantin Shakht along with Yury Sharypov and Vladimir Dalekin, with local reports saying two confessed while Shakht denies involvement.
- The Investigative Committee stated the kidnappers had accomplices who arranged rentals for cars and holding sites and later discarded weapons and the victims’ belongings across different emirates.
- Reports describe torture used to force access to Roman Novak’s crypto wallets before the assailants allegedly discovered the funds were not there and no ransom could be raised.
- Accounts say the bodies were sealed in polyethylene with industrial chemicals, encased in concrete, and buried about 130 kilometers from Dubai, prompting a wide desert search to recover the remains.
- Background coverage portrays Novak’s public image of wealth as questionable, citing a prior fraud conviction and disputed luxury assets, with several details sourced to Russian and tabloid media that have not been independently verified.