The sister of Nima Momeni, who is being tried for the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, testified Monday about telling her brother that the victim’s dealer sexually assaulted her a day before the killing — yet within hours was at her house with more drugs.
Details Khazar Momeni shared during her second day on the witness stand raised more questions about her relationship with Jeremy Boivin, Lee’s dealer, and complicated the purported rationale for her brother stabbing the tech CEO.
Prosecutors say Momeni stabbed Lee under the Bay Bridge the morning of April 4, 2023. Momeni’s legal team contends their client acted in self-defense. The motivation for that killing, according to prosecutors, revolved around an incident at Boivin’s apartment related to “inappropriate” behavior Lee allowed Khazar to partake in, according to the district attorney’s office.
Khazar’s testimony this week has centered on her link to Boivin.
The prosecution pressed Khazar on that relationship in light of their interactions hours before the killing, in which she, Boivin, and Lee used alcohol, cocaine, and nitrous oxide. At some point, Lee and a friend left, leaving Khazar with Boivin and another woman, Khazar said in court Monday.
Khazar and her friend took the party drug GHB. At some point, she said, she started to lose consciousness.
“I woke up twice, and [Boivin] pulled down my pants and slapped my ass,” Khazar testified. “I was scared. I knew something wrong was happening. … He’s a predator.”
Khazar described waking up later naked and face-down in a bed beside her friend and seeing Boivin walk into the room in his underwear.
“He was shaking me, saying, ‘You can’t get me into trouble,’” she said.
“I didn’t know what country I was in,” she continued.
She said she called Nima Momeni, and Boivin and her friend then helped her downstairs and into her brother’s car.
She said that during the drive, she told her brother what she remembered.
“He was very calm and collected,” Khazar told the court. “He just wanted to know what had happened. He asked me if anyone sexually assaulted me.”
Prosecutors say Momeni blamed Lee for failing to protect his sister — an accusation that led to the fatal stabbing.
Despite Khazar’s testimony about being assaulted, she admitted in court that the pair spent a lot of time together in subsequent months. Hours after the alleged assault, Khazar texted Boivin: “Come [over] now. Sorry that was my brother on the phone ripping me [a] new one. He doesn’t even think I’m gonna talk to you again. Lol. He just doesn’t want me to talk to Bob anymore.”
Khazar said in court that she kept spending time with Boivin under duress.
“It’s very embarrassing, but I did put myself into that situation many more times, trying to take control of that situation,” she said of meeting up with Boivin after the alleged sexual assault. “It got worse and worse. He had threatened to kill me if I said anything.”
Khazar could not thoroughly explain why she kept seeing Boivin.
“Do you believe you were raped in Mr. Boivin’s apartment?” asked the deputy district attorney. “It could be a possibility,” she responded, adding that she did not say as much to her brother.
Boivin’s attorney Valerie Nechay defended her client in a statement.
“Khazar Momeni’s narrative is completely false and riddled with blatant lies,” Nechay said. “She should be cross-examined on how long her voluntary sexual relationship with Mr. Boivin continued on for. She is undoubtedly a drug addict, but those struggles with addiction predated her voluntary and consensual encounters with Mr. Boivin. He looks forward to clearing his name at the right time.”