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A California CEO was arrested and charged for allegedly plotting to kill a Mexican businessman over unpaid debt in a brazen murder-for-hire scheme gone wrong.
Federal prosecutors were initially investigating Marcos Arturo Kleiman Tronllan, 40, a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident, for money laundering — using his currency exchange company, MoneyFlip LLC based in San Diego, to dodge federal filings and funnel proceeds from drug sales, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a press release.
Undercover agents with the US Department of Homeland Security made contact with Kleiman in February, asking if he could convert money from drug sales into cryptocurrency.
“Give me the major details. I need to know if … what you have is clean or if it’s dirty,” Kleiman said, according to federal prosecutors. “I mean, I don’t get scared, dude.”
Kleiman, 40, converted and transferred about $750,000 into a digital wallet held by an undercover agent.
However, the investigation took a dark twist when Kleiman asked for help to recover a debt from a Mexican businessman and kill him in exchange for $40,000 and two $5,000 “deposits” to be paid in advance, according to federal prosecutors.
“Then, in early July of 2026, one of the undercover agents asked Kleiman for a second $5,000 deposit to ‘reserve the savages’ and told Kleiman ‘whether [the victim] pays or not he will be left dead on the side of the road,’” prosecutors said in the news release.
“Kleiman responded by telling the undercover agent, ‘I will get those 5 ready for you in 2-3 weeks,’” the press release said.
On Tuesday, the agents showed Kleiman three photos and one video purporting to show the victim captured, tortured, and killed.
“They already killed the guy, so those people need to get paid,” an agent told Kleiman, who replied: “count on it.”
The following day, he delivered a $5,000 cash payment and transmitted another $25,000 to an uncover agent as the final payment for the victim’s murder, according to prosecutors.
Kleiman now faces a murder-for-hire charge with a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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