Five hitmen and the businessman accused of contracting the murder were sentenced to time in prison on October 17 at the Nanning Intermediate People's Court in China's southern Guangxi province, CNN reported.

In October 2013, the real-estate developer Tan Youhui hired the first hitman, Xi Guangan, to take out his competitor, Wei Mou, according to a court release. The businessman offered the hitman 2 million Chinese yuan, or $282,600 in today's dollars, for the job, the court said.

The job went through multiple hitmen before the fifth one, Ling Xiansi, struck a deal with the victim, Wei, to fake his death instead of actually killing him, according to the court release. The police, however, were ultimately informed.

Tan Youhui, the real-estate developer, was sentenced to five years in prison, while the five hitmen were sentenced from two to four years of prison time.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A web of hitmen in China were charged with intentional homicide after trying to outsource a contracted murder five times, according to a CNN report.

The five hitmen and the businessman who accused of originally contracting the murder were sentenced to time in prison on October 17 at the Nanning Intermediate People's Court in China's southern Guangxi province, according to a court release.

The court alleges that in October 2013 the real-estate developer Tan Youhui hired the first hitman, Xi Guangan, to take out his competitor, Wei Mou. The court statement says the businessman offered the hitman 2 million Chinese yuan, or $282,600 in today's dollars, for the job.

Xi Guangan took the money and contracted a second hitman, Mo Tianxiang, paying him 1 million yuan to kill Wei, the court says.

The court says the second hitman then hired another hitman, Yang Kangsheng, paying him 270,000 yuan up front and an additional 500,000 yuan when the deed was done.

Yang Kangsheng is accused of offering a similar deal to a fourth hitman, Yang Guasheng, paying him 200,000 yuan up front and an additional 500,000 yuan after the job was complete.

The fourth hitman hired the fifth — and final — hitman, Ling Xiansi, who agreed to do the job for 100,000 yuan, according to the reports. But instead of going through with the murder, Ling met with Wei and told him about the target on his back, offering the opportunity to fake Wei's death rather than actually killing him.

The fifth hitman helped Wei stage his death, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Wei was bound and gagged in photos, and Ling sent the photos to his employer. The news traveled up the chain of subcontractors up to the original client, Tan.

After the photos of Wei were taken, however, the police were notified, according to ABC.

Tan was sentenced to five years in prison, while the five hitmen were sentenced between two and four years of prison time, according to CNN.