(FOX40.COM) — A California businessman is in custody for hiring a hitman to murder someone over an unpaid debt, federal prosecutors announced.
On Thursday morning, federal agents arrested Marcos Arturo Kleiman Tronllan in Miami. Kleiman, a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent U.S. resident, is the chief executive officer of cross-border currency exchange company MoneyFlip LLC, a San Diego-based business.
Although it ended in a murder-for-hire scheme, the federal investigation began with a probe into money exchange businesses in San Diego and Imperial Counties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.
Agents identified Kleiman as a suspected money launderer, according to court documents. Before changing the name to MoneyFlip, Kleiman owned MXN Financial LLC, a licensed money service business in Southern California.
After investigators suspected Kleiman used the business as a cover to evade federal filing requirements — and to launder illicit proceeds from drug sales — agents made contact in February 2026.
Undercover agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security asked Kleiman to convert U.S. dollars into cryptocurrency, telling the businessman the money came from drug sales.
“Give me the major details. I need to know if … what you have is clean or if it’s dirty,” Kleiman said, according to court documents. “I mean, I don’t get scared, dude.”
To maintain secrecy, prosecutors say Kleiman created an email account and shared its password with the agents to communicate through draft emails. In total, Kleiman allegedly converted about $750,000 into cryptocurrency that was transferred into an undercover agent’s wallet.
During the operation, the discussions turned darker. Prosecutors say Kleiman allegedly asked the agents to help recover a debt from a Mexican businessman — and to kill him.
A photograph depicting the supposed murder victim lying dead in a field with a banner covering his body with the Spanish phrase “Por ser Rata,” which translates to “For being a thief.” (Credit: U.S. Department of Justice)
Kleiman agreed to pay $40,000 to kidnap and murder the man, delivering an initial $5,000 “deposit” via a third party to an agent in San Diego in May, according to the criminal complaint.
“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.'”
Finally, on Tuesday the undercover agents showed Kleiman three photographs and a video that were staged to show Kleiman the victim “captured, tortured and killed,” federal prosecutors said. An agent told Kleiman they “they already killed the guy, so those people need to get paid.”
“Okay,” Kleiman responded, according to court documents. “Count on … count on it.”
On Wednesday, he delivered another $5,000 payment to the agents and sent about $25,000 to a cryptocurrency wallet to close out the alleged murder-for-hire deal.
And on Thursday, Kleiman was taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations agents and Homeland Security Task Force partners in Miami.
Kleiman, 40, was charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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