Chinese businessman Tan Youhui was looking for a hitman to take out a competitor, Wei Mou, and was willing to pay 2 million yuan (£218,000) to get the job done.
Turned out that the hitman that Mr. Youhui hired decided to pass the offer to another hitman for half the original price. The second then subcontracted the third and so on until the fifth hitman was offended at how low the value of the contract had become. This led him to eventually hint to the police until they found out about the plot.
The businessman and all the five hitmen were convicted of attempted murder after three years of trial. The businessman who hired the hitman was sentenced for five years, the first hitman for three years and six months, the second and third for three years and three months, the fourth for three years and the last for two years and seven months.
Photo Credits: Nanning Intermediate People's Court / AFP
All things considerd ... there are 5 persons that hired a killer, and 5 persons actually accepting the job.
I would not consider it a conspiracy, as in every step there are only two persons involved acting the same way. As in the case there ar no two persons acting together to kill the target person this may not be considered a conspiracy. Unlike the assasination of Julius Ceasar in acient Rome where inter alia Marcs Brutus Cassius Longinus and Decumus Brutus and the "Liberators" each stabbed him to death.