Filmmaker stages his own murder with the bodyguard who was hired to kill him, feds say

A man wanted a filmmaker dead, so he enlisted his bodyguard in a murder-for-hire plot — but the bodyguard helped stage the murder instead, according to court filings. Now the man faces federal charges.

The filmmaker was making an “unflattering” documentary about Fereidoun Khalilian, 51, a man he previously worked for and goes by “Prince Fred” or “Fred,” court documents say.

Khalilian has done business with Paris Hilton and was the co-owner of her nightclub in Orlando, Club Paris, according to the Los Angeles Times and other media reports. He was also an executive of Monster Store, a business that worked with Dr. Dre to launch Beats by Dre headphones, the newspaper reports.

After Khalilian, a Florida resident, left menacing voice messages for the filmmaker in March about the documentary — deemed an “exposé” by prosecutors — he hired his bodyguard, who lived in Nevada, to kill him, according to court filings.

The documentary “portrayed Khalilian as a conman, a criminal, and otherwise in a negative light,” an affidavit says. Khalilian thought the project would sabotage his business ventures, according to prosecutors.

Unbeknownst to Khalilian, his bodyguard warned the filmmaker of the murder-for-hire plot, according to the affidavit.

Then, they staged the filmmaker’s murder in his Los Angeles apartment, court filings say.

Khalilian’s bodyguard sent him “proof” of the murder, including a photo showing the filmmaker lying face down, with his hands tied behind his back, and fake blood on the floor near his head, on March 17, according to the court filings.

Then, Khalilian immediately paid the bodyguard over CashApp and sent another payment on March 23 for getting “rid of (the filmmaker’s) body,” the affidavit says.

On Nov. 28, Khalilian had his first court appearance in Nevada, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada announced in a Nov. 29 news release.

He is charged with one count of the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire and one count of conspiracy to witness tamper in an indictment, the attorney’s office said.

McClatchy News contacted Rebecca A. Levy, a federal public defender representing Khalilian, for comment on Nov. 30 and didn’t receive an immediate response. McClatchy News also attempted to reach Khalilian for comment on Nov. 30.

Former employee and eventual murder-for-hire target

Khalilian met the filmmaker in Miami in 2009, when the filmmaker worked at a computer repair shop and fixed his computer, court documents say.

Khalilian, who introduced himself as a billionaire to the man, was “so impressed” with him that he hired him as an IT specialist for his telemarketing company — a job that increased the man’s salary, according to court documents.

Later, the man began to doubt Khalilian, who said his wealth came from being a “royal prince from the Middle East,” court documents say.

He stopped working for him when he believed Khalilian “was a con man that accumulated wealth through deception” and joined the film industry in 2013, according to court documents.

The pair encountered each other again in Los Angeles in 2019, when Khalilian introduced himself to the filmmaker’s friends as “Prince Fred” and said he was from Dubai, court documents say.

Then, the filmmaker dug into Khalilian’s background and decided to make a documentary about his life, according to court documents.

“The documentary included interviews of people who were familiar with defendant Khalilian and his history of engaging in financial fraud, threatening others with physical harm, and committing acts of violence,” the indictment says.

After Khalilian was sent a 10-minute promotional video for the documentary, he began making violent threats toward the filmmaker, according to the indictment.

On March 8, Khalilian told the filmmaker over the phone that “when I’m done with you, I’m going to cut each one of your (expletive) fingers off. I’m coming for you,” the indictment says.

More on the case

Before hiring his bodyguard to kill the filmmaker, Khalilian had the bodyguard and other people “surveil and assault (him) and steal (his) documentary equipment” from Jan. 28 to March 17, prosecutors said in the release.

In June, Khalilian was arrested in Las Vegas in connection with the murder-for-hire plot, according to the affidavit.

He was transferred to California, where he was indicted on one count of murder-for-hire, the affidavit says.

His bodyguard was supposed to testify against Khalilian at his trial in California, according to the release.

While incarcerated, Khalilian is accused of having his friends and family persuade a witness to change their testimony between Aug. 17 and Sept. 12, prosecutors said.

After the trial began on Oct. 24 and evidence was presented, Khalilian argued California was an “improper” venue for the trial and a judge granted his motion for an acquittal “based on improper venue alone,” according to the affidavit.

Then he was indicted in federal court in Nevada on Nov. 21, court records show.

Khalilian describes himself as an entrepreneur and an entertainment agent who is also involved in cryptocurrency, according to his public Instagram account.

If he is convicted on one count of the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the release said.

If convicted on the other count, a conspiracy to witness tamper, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to prosecutors.

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