A New York judge sentenced a personal assistant convicted of murdering his former employer after embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the employer’s companies, a Tuesday statement by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reads.
Tyrese Haspil, 25, will serve “40 years-to-life in state prison for the brutal 2020 murder of his former boss, 33-year-old tech CEO Fahim Saleh,” Bragg announced.
A New York State Supreme Court jury convicted Haspil of first-degree murder, second-degree larceny and second-degree burglary, among other charges June 24.
Haspil began working as Saleh’s entrepreneurial assistant in May 2018, but a few months later began stealing from Saleh’s companies using two separate sophisticated schemes that mimicked the companies’ transactions, prosecutors said. One scheme involved using a PayPal account and fake statements while the other involved using a corporate identity and bank account, according to prosecutors. (RELATED: Employee Allegedly Beheaded Boss Out Of Desperation To Hide Theft From Girlfriend, Lawyer Claims)
Haspil quit his post a year later but continued the embezzlement. One of his schemes was detected Jan. 2020, according to Bragg’s statement. Saleh offered Haspil the chance to pay back the approximately $35,000 Haspil was accused of stealing, instead of having Haspil prosecuted.
Prosecutors say Haspil used money he stole via his PayPal scheme to repay the missing funds and then continued stealing until he racked up $400,000.
Concerned that Saleh might discover the theft, Haspil plotted Saleh’s murder for months “to prevent him from potentially testifying against him in any criminal proceedings,” according to Bragg’s press release.
A masked Haspil tased, stabbed, decapitated and dismembered Saleh in the latter’s apartment July 13, 2020, prosecutors said. A cousin of Saleh’s found his body and alerted the police.
Officers arrested Haspil July 17, 2020 at an Airbnb where he was preparing to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday. Only then did the embezzlement stop, according to Bragg’s press release.
Haspil’s lavish lifestyle was driven by his relationship with his French girlfriend Marine Chaveuz and his financial desperation.
Haspil stunned the court when he publicly disagreed with his attorney over the verdict, the New York Post reported. “Unlike my counsel, I don’t think anything less than life without parole would be appropriate,” Haspil said, bringing his case to an unexpected close.
Saleh was the founder of the Nigeria-based bike-hailing company-turned-logistics and food delivery company called Gokada, according to the company’s website. A Bangladeshi-American, he also co-founded a similar company, Pathao, popular in Bangladesh and Nepal, according to the BBC.
