Current:Home > InvestFederal prosecutors charge ex-Los Angeles County deputies in sham raid and $37M extortion-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Federal prosecutors charge ex-Los Angeles County deputies in sham raid and $37M extortion
View Date:2024-12-23 23:15:30
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and two former foreign military officials have been charged with threatening a Chinese national and his family with violence and deportation during a sham raid at his Orange County home five years ago, federal prosecutors said Monday.
The four men also demanded $37 million and the rights to the man’s business, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. Authorities have not released the businessman’s name.
The men are scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, conspiracy against rights, and deprivation of rights under color of law.
Prosecutors said the group drove to the victim’s house in Irvine on June 17, 2019, and forced him, his wife and their two children into a room for hours, took their phones, and threatened to deport him unless he complied with their demands. Authorities said the man is a legal permanent resident.
The men slammed the businessman against a wall and choked him, prosecutors said. Fearing for his and his family’s safety, he signed documents relinquishing his multimillion-dollar interest in Jiangsu Sinorgchem Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based company that makes rubber chemicals.
Federal prosecutors said the man’s business partner, a Chinese woman who was not indicted, financed the bogus raid. The two had been embroiled in legal disputes over the company in the United States and China for more than a decade, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said one of the men charged, Steven Arthur Lankford — who retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2020 — searched for information on the victim in a national database using a terminal at the sheriff’s department. They said Lankford, 68, drove the other three men to the victim’s house in an unmarked sheriff’s department vehicle, flashed his badge and identified himself as a police officer.
It was not immediately clear if Lankford has an attorney who can speak on his behalf. The Associated Press left a message Monday at a telephone number listed for Lankford, but he did not respond.
Federal prosecutors also charged Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, who also used to be a sheriff’s deputy. The AP left a phone message for Cozart, but he didn’t immediately respond.
Lankford was hired by Cozart, who in turn was hired by Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, a 39-year-old U.K. citizen and former member of the British military who also faces charges. Prosecutors said Turbett was hired by the Chinese businesswoman who financed the bogus raid.
Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, an Australian citizen and former member of the Australian military, is also charged in the case.
“It is critical that we hold public officials, including law enforcement officers, to the same standards as the rest of us,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “It is unacceptable and a serious civil rights violation for a sworn police officer to take the law into his own hands and abuse the authority of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
If convicted, the four men could each face up to 20 years in federal prison.
veryGood! (177)
Related
- Nicky Hilton Shares Her Christmas Plans With Paris, the Secret To Perfect Skin & More Holiday Gift Picks
- The Biden administration demands that TikTok be sold, or risk a nationwide ban
- Inside Ariana Madix's 38th Birthday With Boyfriend Daniel Wai & Her Vanderpump Rules Family
- Man gets 12 years in prison for a shooting at a Texas school that injured 3 when he was a student
- Falling scaffolding plank narrowly misses pedestrians at Boston’s South Station
- Two Years After a Huge Refinery Fire in Philadelphia, a New Day Has Come for its Long-Suffering Neighbors
- After years of decline, the auto industry in Canada is making a comeback
- Las Vegas police search home in connection to Tupac Shakur murder
- After Baltimore mass shooting, neighborhood goes full year with no homicides
- U.S. arrests a Chinese business tycoon in a $1 billion fraud conspiracy
Ranking
- 'Full House' star Dave Coulier diagnosed with stage 3 cancer
- Australian sailor speaks about being lost at sea with his dog for months: I didn't really think I'd make it
- Patti LaBelle Experiences Lyric Mishap During Moving Tina Turner Tribute at 2023 BET Awards
- Florida couple pleads guilty to participating in the US Capitol attack
- Maine elections chief who drew Trump’s ire narrates House tabulations in livestream
- For 40 years, Silicon Valley Bank was a tech industry icon. It collapsed in just days
- Why the Paris Climate Agreement Might be Doomed to Fail
- How Silicon Valley Bank Failed, And What Comes Next
Recommendation
-
Real Housewives of New York City Star’s Pregnancy Reveal Is Not Who We Expected
-
Justice Department opens probe into Silicon Valley Bank after its sudden collapse
-
The Maine lobster industry sues California aquarium over a do-not-eat listing
-
Bison severely injures woman in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota
-
Jennifer Lopez Gets Loud in Her First Onstage Appearance Amid Ben Affleck Divorce
-
Ex-USC dean sentenced to home confinement for bribery of Los Angeles County supervisor
-
Fox News Reveals New Host Taking Over Tucker Carlson’s Time Slot
-
Fossil Fuel Companies Are Quietly Scoring Big Money for Their Preferred Climate Solution: Carbon Capture and Storage