Four former police officers and former military personnel are accused of staging a fake raid on the home of a California businessman, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced Monday.
The former executives allegedly forced the businessman to give up multimillion-dollar business interests. According to The elaborate scheme, filed with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, was allegedly hatched in 2019 at the behest of the victims' business partner, a wealthy Chinese man, who is referred to only as “unindicted co-conspirator 1.”
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada spoke to media today about former law enforcement and military officers arrested on charges of orchestrating a fake attack to intimidate an Orange County man at the direction of a Chinese national. pic.twitter.com/LVJ3qQBU1E
— LA US Attorney (@USAO_LosAngeles) August 12, 2024
The suspects, identified as Stephen Arthur Lankford, Glenn Lewis Cozart, Max Samuel Bennett Tarbet and Matthew Philip Hart, allegedly carried out the raid while posing as police officers in Irvine, California. During the break-in, the suspects allegedly assaulted a businessman, confined him and his family in a room, confiscated their communications devices and restricted their movements for hours. (Related story: Report: Police arrest middle school football coach for molesting 14-year-old boy at school dance)
The blackmail forced the businessman to hand over his assets to the assailants, including $36,972,386 in cash and a high-value stake in Jiangsu SinolucChem. Lankford, a former deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and Cozart, also a former deputy, were said to have been the central figures in planning the attack. Tarbet, a former British soldier, and Hart, a former Australian military officer, flew in from Australia to take part in the raid.
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 29: The Department of Justice seal is displayed on the podium during the Hate Crimes Subcommittee Summit in Washington, DC on June 29, 2017. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Lankford allegedly accessed law enforcement databases to gather information about victims, a clear violation of police policy. A statement from the U.S. Attorney's office emphasized the seriousness of the misconduct. “It is vital that public servants, including law enforcement officers, are held to the same standards as our fellow citizens,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “When sworn police officers arbitrarily enforce the law and abuse the power of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, it is a serious civil rights violation that cannot be tolerated.”
According to a press release, the defendants face charges including racketeering conspiracy, attempted racketeering, conspiracy to violate rights and deprivation of rights by force of law. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each racketeering-related count and up to 10 years for each deprivation of rights count.
