An Israeli private investigator was arrested in Dubai in the last few weeks on suspicion of links to the double murder of Russian crypto entrepreneur Roman Novak and his wife Anna, whose dismembered bodies were found in a desert area of the United Arab Emirates in November 2025.
The suspect, identified as Michael Greenberg, is the founder of Bangkok-based Mike Green Private Investigation, which has operated in Thailand for more than two decades.
According to an Intelligence Online report, Greenberg was detained during what was described as a violent raid by Emirati special forces. Contact with him was lost for an extended period after the arrest, raising concerns among relatives about his safety. Weeks later, Israeli sources received confirmation he was being held, but authorities have not officially disclosed the reasons for the detention or the status of legal proceedings.
Novak had lived in the UAE after his early release from a Russian prison, where he was convicted in 2020 of defrauding investors in a cryptocurrency-related scheme involving about $100,000 tied to a grassroots sports venture.
While in the Emirates, business figures alleged Novak raised roughly $500 million for Fintopio, a proposed rapid cryptocurrency transfer application, before disappearing with the funds and defrauding employees and suppliers.
Investigators believe Novak and his wife were abducted before their deaths, apparently to force them to hand over access codes to their cryptocurrency wallets. Russia’s Investigative Committee later arrested three suspects, two Russians and a Kazakh citizen.
Greenberg is not suspected of carrying out the killings but of connections to the perpetrators, according to the report. Evidence discovered in the suspects’ phones during the Russian investigation reportedly led to his arrest and the extension of his detention by Dubai police. Others involved in private investigative work in Dubai were also detained under similar circumstances.
The killings received extensive coverage in Russian media, where recent investigations attributed multiple alleged fraud schemes to Novak, including crypto deals. He had also told potential investors he was acquainted with Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a claim that was never proven. After the murders, some speculated Novak might have staged his own death.
Previous allegations
Greenberg has faced legal trouble before. He was suspected of involvement in planning the kidnapping of a Taiwanese businessman in Thailand in 2021 at a restaurant in an attempt to extort ransom after a failed glove purchase deal.
At the time, two former U.S. Marines and a Thai citizen were arrested. Reports said one of the Americans hired Greenberg, who allegedly planned the abduction with partners. NBC reported then that Greenberg was not detained because authorities could not locate him.
Security camera footage showed the Taiwanese businessman being choked and forcibly removed from the restaurant. According to investigators, the suspects had arranged the meeting under the pretense of purchasing more gloves, restrained him and used his phone to call his boss, identified only as “Miss Emily,” demanding $2 million.