RENO, Nev. — A businessman who tried to have a filmmaker killed to stop an "unflattering" documentary about him from being made is now being charged with federal crimes. He tried to hire the director's bodyguard for the murder, but the bodyguard helped the director fake his murder instead, according to the Department of Justice.
Fereidoun Khalilian, a self-described entrepreneur and entertainment agent who had previously launched business ventures with Paris Hilton and Dr. Dre, often introduced himself as "Prince Fred" and claimed that he was wealthy because he was a “royal prince from the Middle East,” according to court documents.
The documentary filmmaker, who had briefly worked for one of Khalilian's companies in 2009, was working on a film about Khalilian's life and had interviewed people familiar with his history of fraud, threats and violence, according to the indictment. The indictment also said Khalilian had threatened the director over the phone, including promising to cut his fingers off.
Prosecutors also said Khalilian also hired people to stalk, harass, and rob the director throughout early 2023, before ultimately hiring his bodyguard to kill him.
Instead, the bodyguard warned the director about the murder-for-hire plot and sent Khalilian a photo of the director pretending to be bound, bloodied and dead. The bodyguard then took Khalilian's payments for committing the murder and disposing of the body via CashApp before informing the authorities.
Khalilian was arrested and charged with setting up a murder-for-hire with interstate commerce tools. During his incarceration, he was accused of having his friends and family persuade a witness to change their testimony, earning him another federal charge of conspiracy to witness tamper.
If convicted of both charges, Khalilian could face up to 30 combined years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines.
