John Jefferson
Inset left: Tyrese Haspil (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez). Inset right: Fahim Saleh (Facebook). Background: Saleh’s Manhattan condo at 265 East Houston Street on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, in New York (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II).
The man who stole more than $400,000 from his tech CEO boss and murdered him in a Manhattan apartment building to cover up the theft has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
“Today, Tyrese Haspil is facing accountability for brutally murdering and decapitating Fahim Saleh, a kind, generous, and empathetic person who positively impacted the world,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Tyrese Haspil, 25, got access to the financial records of tech CEO Fahim Saleh, 33, while working for him as an assistant.
“By Fall 2018, Haspil was stealing from Mr. Saleh’s companies using two, separate sophisticated schemes,” prosecutors wrote.
This included using a PayPal account that mimicked other financial transactions of the business. With that, he funneled money into that account while making fake statements.
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In December 2018, he made a second financial scheme in which he stole more money by creating a corporate entity and bank account.
“He funneled the money by mimicking other transactions, so it went undetected, continuing through May 2019,” authorities wrote.
Knowing that Saleh would discover the theft, Haspil quit work.
“In January 2020, one of the frauds was detected and traced back to Haspil,” they wrote. “Mr. Saleh confronted him for stealing approximately $35,000 from his company and offered to settle the debt with a repayment plan over a two-year period in lieu of criminal prosecution.”
But Haspil used money from the undiscovered fraud to pay off his debt in the other one that Saleh knew about.
Afraid Saleh would figure out the continued deception, Haspil plotted the victim’s murder for months, prosecutors said.
Finally, on July 13, 2020, at about 8:30 a.m., he followed someone into the building lobby and waited inside a stairwell. He was armed with a knife and taser, and was disguised in a custom suit and had a mask.
“When Mr. Saleh returned from a run, Haspil followed him into the elevator, which opened directly into Mr. Saleh’s apartment,” they wrote “As Mr. Saleh exited the elevator, Haspil immediately tased him in the back, causing him to fall to the ground. Haspil then stabbed Mr. Saleh multiple times in the neck and torso, killing him. Attempting to conceal the murder, Haspil used a mini vacuum to vacuum the Anti-Felon Identification Discs (AFID), which contain a serial number and are discharged by the Axon taser to aid law enforcement. ”
Returning to the apartment the following day after getting rid of evidence in a garbage can, Haspil used a saw to dismember Saleh’s body and clean up the crime scene. Then the battery ran out, and Haspil left for a charger.
“While Haspil was out, Mr. Saleh’s cousin came to check on him since she had not heard from him in 24 hours. At the apartment, she discovered her cousin’s dismembered and decapitated body and called the police,” they wrote. “Once Haspil returned from Home Depot, he noticed police presence at Mr. Saleh’s apartment and left the scene.”
And yet Haspil continued his embezzlement scheme until cops on July 17, 2020, arrested him at the Airbnb he booked to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday.
“Even after the defendant stole from him to fund a lavish lifestyle, Mr. Saleh still gave him a second chance,” Bragg said. “While today’s sentence won’t bring Mr. Saleh back, I hope it provides his family a sense of closure as they continue to mourn his painful loss.”
Charges were murder in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, tampering with physical evidence, concealment of a human corpse, and two counts of grand larceny in the second degree.
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