Tyrese Devon Haspil ex personal assistant arrested in Fahim Saleh tech CEO murder. Employee had previously been busted embezzling $100K from his employer.
A former employee has been arrested in the murder of tech CEO Fahim Saleh according to reports.
Tyrese Devon Haspil, 21, was in custody and was on Friday charged with second degree murder of Saleh — who was found decapitated and dismembered inside his $2.25m luxury Lower East Side (L.E.S) Manhattan apartment on Tuesday reports the nypost.
Tyrese Haspil worked as Saleh’s chief of staff at his venture capital firm Adventure Capital — but acted as his personal assistant. The man was arrested three days after Tuesday’s grizzly attack, purportedly while hiding out at a nearby Soho apartment.
The motive behind Saleh’s slaying allegedly involves stolen cash, cops said.
The entrepreneur, 33, learned that Haspil allegedly embezzled $100,000 from him — but instead of notifying authorities, he brokered a repayment plan with Haspil.
This is Fahim Saleh’s PA, Tyrese Devon Haspil, who was caught on CCTV buying the cleaning supplies, electric saw and taser used in his murder.pic.twitter.com/c1495TlKX9
— ✨👑 DaddyMO👑✨ (@therealdaddymo1) July 18, 2020
At some point, Haspil allegedly reneged on the deal.
‘This was an act of charity that turned into an act of murder,’ the source said.
Saleh’s body was discovered Tuesday by a relative who hadn’t heard from him in days.
He was killed Monday, with Haspil allegedly first zapping him with a Taser and then fatally stabbing him, the New York Times reported. Haspil then allegedly returned the next day to chop up Saleh’s body and clean up the crime scene.
Haspil’s credit card was allegedly used after the murder to purchase a power saw and cleaning products at Home Depot, police sources told the Daily Beast.
Security footage from inside the elevator shows Haspil using a portable vacuum to try and cover his tracks, the Times said.
Investigators linked Haspil to the slaying through forensic evidence left behind on the Taser.
Surveillance video from Saleh’s East Houston Street apartment building shows the businessman and a smartly dressed Haspil riding together in the elevator — which opens straight out to his apartment — on Monday afternoon. It was the last time Saleh was seen alive.
A VIDEO OF FAHIM SALEH ‘S KILLER
This Guy, Devon Tyrese Haspil was #FahimSaleh ‘s Personal Assistant, who stole 100,000$ from him. When Fahim Saleh found out, HE DIDN’T REPORT HIM!
Instead, He prepared a Repayment plan for him 😫😫 pic.twitter.com/0YBrtSi1MY— YOUR FUTURE WIFE (@Shantellesse) July 17, 2020
Innovative CEO ran into financial difficulties
Saleh, who was born in Saudi Arabia but grew up in New York in a Bengali family, bought his luxury apartment for $2.25 million last year, records show.
Saleh was the chief executive officer of a ride-hailing motorcycle startup called Gokada that began operating in Nigeria in 2018.
The firm, Gokada, recently faced severe setbacks after being banned earlier this year by the Nigerian government. It was forced to lay off staff and pivot from being a ride-sharing service to a delivery courier the dailymail reports.
The ban came at a difficult moment for Gokada which had just raised $5.3 million in funding from Rise Capital, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, in May 2019.
After the ban was enacted, the firm stopped bringing in money and around 800 bikers working for Gorkada were also immediately laid off.
Saleh was working on new ideas and a new direction for the firm.
Haspil, who is from Elmont, New York, had worked for Saleh at his investment firm Adventure Capital.
It appears he attended Hofstra University where he studied arts and marketing. It is not yet clear how he came to work for Saleh.
