TYRESE HASPIL, 25, has been sentenced to 40 years-to-life in state prison for the brutal 2020 murder of his former boss, 33-year-old tech Gokada CEO Fahim Saleh, after stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his company, Gokada.
Haspil is also required to pay full restitution back to Gokada after he was convicted on June 24, 2024 by a New York State Supreme Court jury on one count of Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, one count of Burglary in the Second Degree, among other charges. Gokada is a mobility startup based in Nigeria.
Bangladeshi-born Saleh co-founded the Nigerian motorcycle ride-sharing service Gokada and was also the co-founder of the $100m ride-sharing venture Pathao in Bangladesh. Saleh was a graduate of Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., was also involved in ride-sharing operations in Colombia and Bangladesh.
“Today, Tyrese Haspil is facing accountability for brutally murdering and decapitating Fahim Saleh, a kind, generous, and empathetic person who positively impacted the world. Even after the defendant stole from him to fund a lavish lifestyle, Mr. Saleh still gave him a second chance,” said District Attorney Bragg. “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.”
Fahim Saleh hired Haspil as his entrepreneurial assistant in May 2018 and put him in charge of financial tasks, where he gained access to Mr. Saleh’s financial records. In September 2018, Haspil started the first scheme by creating a PayPal account using a name that mimicked other financial transactions of the business, funneling the funds into that account while creating fake statements.
In December 2018, Haspil created a second financial scheme where he began stealing 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.
Late Gokada boss Fahim Saleh (above)
Haspil resigned in May 2019, knowing Mr. Saleh would learn about the embezzlement, yet continued to steal money increasing the amounts. In January 2020, one of the frauds was detected and traced back to Haspil. 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.
Haspil paid Mr. Saleh back for the detected scheme with stolen money from the PayPal financial scheme which continued, escalating to approximately $400,000. Afraid that Mr. Saleh would discover the continued PayPal embezzlement, Haspil started plotting to murder Mr. Saleh to prevent him from potentially testifying against him in any criminal proceedings.
Haspil spent months planning the murder and on July 13, 2020, at approximately 8:30 a.m., HASPIL followed someone into Mr. Saleh’s lobby and waited there inside a stairwell. Haspil had a knife and taser and was wearing a black custom suit with an opaque mask so that Mr. Saleh would not recognize him.
When Mr. Saleh returned from a run, Haspil followed him into the elevator, which opened directly into Mr. Saleh’s apartment. 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 place. Haspil returned to the apartment the following day, after leaving to discard evidence in a garbage can, to dismember Mr. Saleh’s body with a saw and clean up the crime scene. After the saw’s battery ran out, he left to purchase a battery 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. Upon his return from Home Depot, he noticed police presence at Mr. Saleh’s apartment and left the scene.
On July 17, 2020, officers arrested Haspil at the Airbnb he had booked to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday. The PayPal embezzlement continued until Haspil’s arrest.