The FBI Says It Stopped a $40,000 Murder Plot on U.S. Soil — And the Details Sound Like a Spy Movie

According to newly unsealed federal charges, the offer was part of a much larger network that U.S. authorities say was tied to Russian intelligence and involved surveillance, murder-for-hire plots, and attacks targeting people seen as opponents of Moscow.

The FBI says the plot reached all the way to the Washington, D.C. area.

And the person allegedly being targeted was no ordinary victim.

A prominent Russian dissident was allegedly being watched

Federal prosecutors say the network believed a prominent Russian dissident was living in the United States.

According to the Justice Department, a U.S.-based recruit was given two locations linked to the intended target and told how to carry out surveillance.

The recruit then allegedly sent back photos and videos of those locations. In exchange, prosecutors say he was promised between $1,000 and $1,500 for the surveillance work.

But authorities say the request did not stop there.

Then came the $40,000 offer

Prosecutors allege that the recruit was later offered $40,000 to “eliminate” or “disappear” the intended victim.

In other words, authorities say he was being asked to commit murder.

The recruit refused.

According to the indictment, when he said he did not want to carry out the killing himself, the alleged operatives asked whether he knew someone else who could “do the work.”

Authorities say the network then tried to recruit other people inside the United States.

The plot was ultimately disrupted before the intended victim was killed.

Five people have now been charged

The Justice Department announced charges against five people accused of working with Russian intelligence services.

They include Russian national Yuri Khrameev and his son Kirill Khrameev, Cuban nationals Oemis Romagoza Durruthy and Yaidel Delgado Suarez, and Venezuelan national Angel Eduardo Castro.

Three of the defendants — Khrameev, Suarez and Castro — also face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

All five defendants remain at large.

An indictment contains allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Investigators say this was bigger than one target

The Washington-area plot was allegedly only one part of the network’s activities.

Federal prosecutors say the same group was involved in schemes targeting Russian dissidents and others abroad, including people in countries viewed as supportive of Ukraine.

The Justice Department alleges that the network also commissioned or attempted attacks against civilian and military infrastructure in European countries.

Another alleged murder plot involved a person in Lithuania.

In that case, prosecutors say a U.S.-based individual was offered $25,000 to kill the target.

That person also refused.

The FBI says the threat reached American soil

The case drew particular attention because federal authorities say the alleged plot wasn't limited to espionage or overseas operations.

According to prosecutors, members of the network actively tried to recruit people already inside the United States to help identify and kill a person they believed was living here.

The FBI's counterintelligence division in New York investigated the case with assistance from its Washington field office and Homeland Security Investigations.

The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment about the latest charges. Russia has previously denied accusations that it conducts assassination plots on foreign soil.

The alleged plot ended before anyone was killed

For the intended target, the most important part of the story is that the alleged killing did not happen.

Authorities say the person initially recruited for the job refused the $40,000 offer, and U.S. law enforcement ultimately disrupted the wider plot.

But the newly revealed details show just how far prosecutors believe the operation had progressed.

Surveillance had allegedly already taken place.

Money had allegedly been offered.

And people inside the United States were allegedly being asked to carry out a killing.

What began as surveillance around Washington had, according to federal prosecutors, escalated into a murder-for-hire offer worth $40,000.