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Tyrese Devon Hapsil, 21, an employee of the victim, longtime Hudson Valley resident Fahim Saleh, was charged with his murder on Friday, July 17 after Saleh was found dismembered in his Lower East Side luxury condo on Tuesday, July 14.
Hapsil, wearing all black with a black mask and a duffel bag, had reportedly followed Saleh into the apartment and rode with him up an elevator that leads directly to the entrance of Saleh's apartment, investigators said.
Hapsil then reportedly fired a Taser at Saleh's back and then stabbed him to death.
According to The New York Times, Hapsil, a Nassau County native who graduated from Central High School in Valley Stream in 2017 before enrolling at Hofstra University, was driven to kill after Saleh discovered he had embezzled nearly $100,000.
Saleh never reported the alleged $90,000 embezzlement, and instead created a plan for Hapsil to pay him back.
Police said that the investigation determined Hapsil returned to dismember the body the following day, in an apparent attempt to make the killing look like a professional assassination to divert attention from himself as a suspect.
Saleh, 33, who was born in Saudi Arabia, moved with his parents to Dutchess County in his early teens.
The family lived in Hopewell Junction and Saleh graduated from John Jay High School in East Fishkill.
Saleh was the founder and CEO of Gokada, an on-demand motorbike hailing service headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
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