Paris Hilton's ex-business partner Prince Fred allegedly ordered hit on filmmaker set to expose him

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: Prince Fred, the notorious con man and former business partner of Paris Hilton, was charged with orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot after he offered his bodyguard, Michael Sherwood, $20,000 to kill filmmaker Juan Esco.

The 51-year-old, who is originally named Fereidoun Khalilian, was arrested in June for allegedly ordering a hit on Esco, who he believed would have exposed his charade.

In 2005, Khalilian opened a nightclub in Florida called Club Paris, along with Hilton. He cozied up to other stars such as Demi Lovato, Usher, and Drake, while claiming to be of Middle Eastern royalty, reported the Daily Mail.

What are the allegations against Prince Fred?

In a 53-page complaint filed in the US District Court for Nevada, prosecutors allege that Fred wanted Esco dead to prevent the release of the latter's documentary exposé that sought to reveal his long list of lies, scams, and swindles.

Fred told Sherwood that Esco was "trying to ruin his life with this documentary" around February 2022. The guard offered to talk to him to avoid further conflict, and decided that Esco was "not a bad guy."

Growing suspicious of his boss' mood swings and fixation with Esco, Sherwood initially agreed to Fred's offer to kill Esco for $20,000. He then went ahead and warned the filmmaker and the two teamed up to stage a fake murder.

Sherwood sent pictures of Esco lying 'dead' on the ground with a pool of blood surrounding him to Fred on March 17. In return, the con man transferred him money via Cash App with the caption "for my guys." Later he sent more for Sherwood to hire people to get rid of the body.

On June 12, Fred met with his guard in Las Vegas and thanked him for committing the crime on his behalf, allegedly saying, "I was going to kill him myself. I bought a gun, I was coming to LA, you saved me from myself."

Federal agents arrested Fred shortly afterward, and he remained incarcerated during the investigation.

The fraudulent schemes of Prince Fred

Fred lived in Miami since 1989 and was on the radar of the Federal Trade Commission for his various fraudulent endeavors.

In one of them, Fredd was accused of selling online gambling software to a Native American tribe in Oklahoma for $9 million and then refusing to return the money when it was found dysfunctional.

Making fraudulent pitches for travel packages got Fred banned from all travel-related telemarketing in the early 2000s, and he was also ordered to pay $185,000 to consumers.

In 2009, Fred ran his own telemarketing company, My Car Solutions. A complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission in June 2010 alleged that the company would sell motorists fake 'extended' warranty coverage for their cars by claiming to be calling from the manufacturer or the dealer.

It was eventually shut down after a raid, and a fine of $4 million.