South Florida man accused of paying undercover agent in murder-for-hire plot

A South Florida man allegedly thought he was paying $5,000 to a hitman to murder someone who he said took over $1 million from him and a business, but the purported hitman was an undercover agent, court records say.

Makram Khashman is facing one count of murder for hire in South Florida’s federal court. He was being held in the Broward Main Jail as of Thursday night.

The investigation began in February when a confidential informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told law enforcement Khashman asked him if the informant would murder someone in exchange for money, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. The informant declined but said he or she knew someone who would and put Khashman in contact with the undercover ATF agent, who posed as a hitman.

Khashman met with the informant and the undercover agent in Plantation on Feb. 29 to discuss the alleged murder, which was recorded, the complaint said. The complaint does not identify the intended target.

“The (undercover agent) said that he heard Khashman had a problem, to which Khashman replied that it was a big problem,” the complaint said.

Khashman said “he was in the streets with his family” and that the target took over $1 million from him and a business that was worth $3 million, according to the complaint.

He told the agent to do “whatever had to be done.” “After attempting to gain clarification on what that meant, Khashman stated he wanted something easy, like an injection,” the complaint said.

The agent asked if Khashman wanted the target gone, and he said he “didn’t give a f—.” The agent said there would be no undoing of it, and Khashman said “no problem” multiple times, the complaint said.

Khashman allegedly offered a total of $5,000 for the murder, telling the agent he already discussed with others who agreed to carry it out for that price, according to the complaint. He met the undercover agent again in Plantation on March 19, where the agent saw Khashman grab what appeared to be folded cash and put on a pair of work gloves before he got out of his van.

Khashman gave the target’s information to the agent and told him to write it down and search online for the address, the complaint said. He told the agent what time the target left for work, gave the name and address of the target’s business and said he could wait near the target’s warehouse in Parkland, “describing the area as quiet and unpopulated.”

The agent told Khashman to not tell anyone else or involve others in the plan.

“Khashman agreed and explained essentially that he took the money to pay for the hit slowly over time to avoid detection,” the complaint said.

Again, the agent emphasized that there would be no turning back and if Khashman was certain he wanted the target dead, according to the complaint. Khashman allegedly said, “no s—,” that he was willing to “do it (himself)” and told the agent to stop asking questions.

“Khashman reiterated that the warehouse location was a large area with nobody around and advised to do it quiet and calm,” the complaint said.

The agent and Khashman left, then the agent met with law enforcement and handed over the $2,500 in cash, a pen Khashman gave the agent and the piece of paper with the target’s information written on it, the complaint said.

Two defense attorneys representing Khashman did not immediately return an email seeking comment Thursday after business hours.