The chief executive of cross-border currency exchange business Moneyflip LLC has been arrested in Miami after prosecutors alleged he used cryptocurrency and undercover agents posing as hitmen in an attempted murder-for-hire scheme.
Marcos Arturo Kleiman Tronllan was detained on 30 July following a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Prosecutors claim he arranged for a Mexican businessman to be kidnapped and killed over an unpaid debt.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California described Moneyflip LLC as a registered money services business that provides cross-border currency exchange services.
Authorities allege Kleiman converted $750,000 into cryptocurrency for undercover agents during the investigation. They also claim he sent 25,000 USDT to an undercover cryptocurrency wallet as part of the final payment after agents staged the victim’s killing.
According to court documents, the investigation began as a wider inquiry into money exchange businesses operating near the U.S.-Mexico border. Investigators suspected Kleiman had used his company to avoid Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements and to launder proceeds from drug trafficking through cross-border transactions.
Homeland Security Investigations agents allegedly contacted Kleiman in February while posing as individuals seeking to convert U.S. dollars, purportedly generated through drug proceeds, into cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors say the undercover operation later developed into a murder-for-hire investigation. They allege Kleiman agreed to pay $40,000 for the kidnapping and killing of the businessman.
The complaint states that he initially provided two separate cash payments of $5,000. Undercover agents then showed him fabricated photographs and a video intended to make it appear that the victim had been killed.
Authorities allege Kleiman subsequently made another cash payment and transferred 25,000 USDT to an undercover wallet, completing what prosecutors described as the payment arrangement.
Kleiman faces one count of murder-for-hire under 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a). If convicted, he could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case also highlights the regulatory obligations facing businesses involved in cryptocurrency transfers. Under federal anti-money laundering rules, many companies that exchange or transmit convertible virtual currency are treated as money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Those obligations include registering with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), taking steps to identify customers and reporting suspicious activity. FinCEN has applied its guidance to such businesses for more than a decade and maintains a public registry of money services businesses, alongside related regulatory information.
Law enforcement agencies have increasingly examined cryptocurrency transactions in investigations involving violent crime, fraud, sanctions evasion and money laundering. Blockchain records can provide additional financial evidence by showing movements between digital wallets, although wallet activity alone does not necessarily establish who controls an account or why a transfer was made.
Cryptocurrency has featured in other murder-for-hire prosecutions involving online communications, concealed payments and undercover investigations. One defendant was sentenced to nine years in prison after using bitcoin to finance a crypto-funded murder-for-hire scheme. Another case concerned a bitcoin-funded plot arranged through the dark web.
Blockchain analysis has also been used in homicide investigations and international asset-freezing actions involving stablecoins. Transaction records have helped connect cryptocurrency activity to murder convictions, while investigators in Kenya froze $751,853 in USDT during a probe involving a Binance wallet. The case illustrated how digital wallet movements can remain visible across borders even when those behind the transactions attempt to conceal ownership or their intended purpose.
Separately, federal prosecutors allege that a crypto investor orchestrated a scheme that caused about $20m in losses.
