Federal prosecutors have charged four former law enforcement and military officers of carrying out a fictitious raid on the house of a California businessman in 2019 with the intention of coercing him into signing away tens of millions of dollars’ worth of business rights.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement on Monday that the defendants physically attacked the businessman inside his Irvine home at the request of his business partner, who provided funding for the so-called “bogus raid.”
The victim and his business partner had been at odds over Jiangsu Sinorgchem, a Chinese manufacturer of rubber chemicals, for years when the four impostor officers, posing as law enforcement officials, coerced the man into signing papers giving up his multimillion-dollar stake in the company, according to the prosecution.
During the raid, the man’s wife and two kids were at home. The victim and his business partner were not given names; instead, the U.S. attorney’s office described the woman as a “wealthy Chinese national” and unindicted co-conspirator 1.
According to the office, a superseding indictment charges Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country, California; Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, California; Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, of Australia, a citizen of the United Kingdom; and Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, of Australia, with one count each of conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, conspiracy against rights, and deprivation of rights under color of law.
Monday afternoon is when the four defendants are expected to be arraigned. Remarks from their counsel could not be obtained right away.
Prosecutors said that if found guilty, the defendants may receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count relating to extortion and a possible term of 10 years in federal prison for each count involving deprivation of rights.
Prosecutors claim that the victim’s and his business partner’s ownership dispute in the rubber chemical manufacturer lasted for years. Prosecutors stated that the arguments resulted in at least three lawsuits in China and one in Atlanta.
The uncharged co-conspirator allegedly got in touch with Turbett in December 2018 to offer assistance with her business conflict. She requested Turbett to find an alternative “solution to finish the problem,” prosecutors said, claiming that the drawn-out and expensive litigation had not been “the smart way” to manage her dispute. According to authorities, she assured Turbett that “we can both retire” if he assisted her.
Prosecutors said that Turbett and the unindicted co-conspirator wrote alleged settlement agreements directing victim 1 to provide the unindicted co-conspirator assets, including valuable shares in Jiangsu Sinorgchem and approximately $36,972,386 in cash.
That action set off a series of events that culminated in the June 17, 2019, fictitious raid. Prosecutors claimed that prior to that, Turbett employed Cozart to locate Victim 1 and put together a group to obtain Victim 1’s signature on the settlement agreements.
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After that, Cozart employed Lankford, a sheriff’s deputy at the time, who went against departmental protocol and looked up victim 1’s name and birthdate in the National Crime Information Center database. Prosecutors stated that using law enforcement databases for private purposes is prohibited.
Prosecutors alleged that Turbett and Hart took a plane from Australia to Los Angeles, where they met with Cozart and Lankford to organize the fictitious raid.
According to officials, the defendants confined the victim and his family into a single room during the fictitious raid. Prosecutors said that their phones were seized and that they were unable to leave for hours. Prosecutors claimed the businessman was also choked, smashed into a wall, and threatened with deportation along with the potential of being permanently split from his 4-year-old son.
According to the authorities, the victim then signed the compensation agreements. Prosecutors claimed that despite the victim’s instructions not to call the police, he contacted Irvine police after the defendants had left.
Prosecutors claimed that Lankford misled police into believing that he had been in the businessman’s house on official business, that everyone there had the businessman’s permission, and that no force had been used.
According to the authorities, by November 2019, all accused had received compensation for their efforts in forcing the businessman to sign the settlement.
According to the prosecution, the uncharged co-conspirator wrote Turbett to thank him for a “very good job” and paid Turbett’s company approximately $419,813 for it.
