A Boston, Massachusetts, man allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill his wife, but the first person he hired scammed him, while the second person was actually an undercover federal agent.
Mohammed Chowdhury, 46, was arrested and charged with one count of murder-for-hire for attempting to have his wife and her boyfriend killed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a press release last week.
In November 2022, someone contacted federal law enforcement to say that Chowdhury was trying to hire someone to kill his wife, and that he had already paid for the murder, but that individual who took the money didn’t follow through with the crime. Chowdhury allegedly told the person who contacted federal authorities that he would be willing to rob a store to finance the hit and wanted the murder committed as soon as possible.
The informant provided law enforcement with Chowdhury’s phone number, and an undercover agent began posing as a contract killer.
Authorities allege that between December 2022 and January 2023, Chowdhury met numerous times with undercover agents offering to help him commit the murders. Chowdhury’s wife allegedly left him for the new lover.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chowdhury asked the undercover agents: “So how we gonna disappear his, uh, body?” He also told them there could be “No evidence. No evidence. No evidence from like, you know, that, uh, I did something, you know?”
Chowdhury also allegedly provided the undercover agents with photos of his wife and her new boyfriend, their address, as well as information about where they worked and their work schedules.
He allegedly agreed to pay the fake contract killer $4,000 for each murder, with $500 upfront.
Chowdhury met with the undercover agents on January 17 and allegedly provided the deposit while again confirming he wanted his wife and her new boyfriend to be murdered. He was then taken into federal custody, authorities said.
It is not the first time Chowdhury has been charged in relation to his wife. In October 2019, he pleaded to sufficient facts for violating an Abuse Prevention Order his wife had against him.
The latest charges carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison if Chowdhury is convicted, with three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.