United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS, Texas - Eskandar Molavi, 69, of Frisco, Texas, is in federal custody following his arrest Friday, March 16, 2018 on federal charges stemming from a murder-for-hire plot to have his former business partner kidnapped and possibly killed. The announcement was made this afternoon by Special Agent in Charge Clyde E. Shelley, Jr. of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Erin Nealy Cox, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Molavi is charged with one count of solicitation of kidnapping and one count of attempted kidnapping. He made his initial appearance yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Renee Harris Toliver. A detention hearing was held today and Molavi was ordered detained pending trial.

According to the criminal complaint affidavit filed in the case, Molavi approached a man, whom Molavi believed to be a pilot for a Mexican Drug Trafficking (DTO), about kidnapping his former business partner, later identified as H.M., and forcing him to sign over a gas station that Molavi lost to H.M. in civil court. Molavi told the man that if the business partner did not sign the business over, he wanted him flown to Mexico and murdered.

On March 6, 2018, according to the affidavit, the individual Molavi contacted had an unplanned meeting with Molavi in Frisco, Texas. At the meeting, Molavi again asserted that he wanted H.M. kidnapped and forced to sign over the gas station. The man told Molavi that a man known as “D.J.,” also known as “Iceman,” would be in town, and would be the individual that would carry out the kidnapping/extortion scheme. The individual referred to as D.J. or Iceman was, in fact, an FBI agent.

On March 13, 2018, the FBI agent met with Molavi in Dallas, Texas. During the course of the meeting, Molavi told the agent about his dispute with H.M.; inquired about what services the agent could provide and the cost of such services. Molavi ultimately agreed to pay the agent $20,000 to kidnap H.M. and force him to sign over the business. Molavi provided the agent with H.M.’s true name, home address, business address, and information related to the location of the school that H.M.’s daughter attended. Molavi also told the agent that if H.M. did not sign over the business, that the agent should kill H.M. The agent told Molavi that the price for murder was $50,000.

After the meeting, Molavi asked the individual he originally contacted if he would be able to get him a gun and a silencer in the event that the agent was unsuccessful in getting H.M. to sign over the business.

A federal complaint is a written statement of the essential facts of the offenses charged and must be made under oath before a U.S. magistrate judge. A defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The government has 30 days to present the case to a federal grand jury for indictment. If convicted, however, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the court after a review of the federal sentencing guidelines and factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation.

The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney P.J. Meitl is in charge of the prosecution.