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Summary
1) Tech CEO’s body found in luxury New York apartment.
2) A persona of interest is identified by NY Police Department, not in custody yet,
3) Tragic death of a visionary entrepreneur is a loss for the tech development world.
4) Family remains hopeful in finding the killer.
On Tuesday, the New York Police Department confirmed the death of a 33-year-old tech CEO Fahim Saleh. His body was found dismembered in a luxury condo in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Saleh is a venture capitalist and founder of Nigeria's motorcycle ride-hail company Gokada. After not hearing from him for a full day, his sister visited his condo, only to find a grisly scene.
The Saleh family is in a state of shock and have issued a detailed statement, requesting the Police Department to find the killer. Investigators believe this to be a professional job; he was shot with a stun gun, before dismembering his body with an electric saw. The gruesome attack may have been interrupted with his sister entering the home; the cleaning materials found near the body.
NYPD officials said, the assailant was dressed in black and was wearing a black face mask. A source said that the killer looked like a ninja. The investigation is in a very early state as detectives continue to scrutinise evidence from the murder scene.
The police department does not have the details on how the killer entered a high-security home. Saleh had recently bought the Manhattan apartment, worth $2.2 million.
According to multiple sources from the New York Police Department, a person of interest is identified. Fahim and their business deal did not work out, and the motive could be out of business rivalry and revenge. The person is not in police custody yet.
Deji Oduntan, the former Co-Founder at Gokada, tweeted: "I am utterly shocked and deeply saddened by the news of Fahim's death.”
Bangladeshi Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, said, the unfortunate and untimely death is “a great loss for the country”.
Who was Fahim Saleh?
Saleh’s friends referred to him as "Elon Musk of the developing world". A son of Bangladeshi Immigrants, he was born in Saudi Arabia. His parents frequently relocated for work, before settling in the USA. He studied in John Jay High School based out of Cross River, New York.
Recent investments and start-ups
Adventure Capital, a Manhattan-based venture capital firm started by Saleh, provides funding to companies in high-tech solutions for problems in developing countries.
Most recently, he launched a motorcycle ride-hail app Gokada which is operating in Lagos, Nigeria. Gokada is an on-demand transportation company, which provides motorbike ride to customers as an alternative to four-wheeler taxi services.
Fahim founded this service along with a Nigerian entrepreneur Deji Oduntan. The company have bikes with engine capacities of 200 cc, and drivers are licensed riders.
With the ongoing success of Gokada, the company raised $5.4 million in series A venture capital and recent addition of luxury yacht service, added to Gokada’s existing popularity.
A Visionary Entrepreneur
The tech industry applauded Fahim Saleh for being a visionary young entrepreneur. He started his ventures at a very young age. With a keen interest in computer programming, he learnt coding.
With his knowledge in computers, he created a social networking website - Salehfamily.com only for his family and friends especially to organise events. He was only a teenager aged 15 when he started a blogging site for his friends to blog and chat with each other.
He mentioned receiving a $500 paycheck from Google, later selling the same website to eBay for $2,000.
He also tried his hands on creating a Facebook food delivery app. While he was doing graduation at Bentley University, he surveyed restaurants around Boston for the app.
After the graduation in 2009, he launched a prank phone call app PrankDial. The app allows users to prank their friends with a prerecorded phone call. Saleh got in legal trouble with a former deputy director of Hudson County Correctional Facility, Kirk Eady, who illegally used the app for wiretapping. Eady filed a lawsuit against Saleh for misleading him about the legalities of the app. Over its lifetime, the app generated more than $10 million.
Aspiration for a better world with a better future, he wanted to create something that "adds legitimate value to humanity". Saleh co-founded a transport company Pathao. The company is famous in Bangladesh and Nepal, and as of April 2018, the company's valuation is at $100 million.
Like any businesses, Saleh faced ups and downs too. In February, Nigerian officials banned motorcycle taxis in Laos. The major commercial and residential part of Laos is where the primary business hub for taxi services. With this big blow, the company had to lay off its employees.
On an optimistic note, Saleh started a food and package delivery service with the same infrastructure. In April, Nigeria was severely affected by COVID-19 pandemic, which had a severe impact on Okada. But Saleh announced on Twitter that the company is positioned well to adapt the economic change.
NYPD officials are exploring whether Mr Saleha’s killing is connected to the business; as of now, there is no clear indication and motive behind the gruesome murder of a passionate entrepreneur.
