An indictment unsealed Monday accused four men, including two retired LA County Sheriff's deputies and two former soldiers from Australia and Great Britain, of staging a fake law enforcement raid on a home in Irvine, where the resident was allegedly held against his will and coerced into signing over business interests worth more than $37 million.
The unnamed victim, an Irvine resident who is an immigrant from China and a legal U.S. resident, had been embroiled in a dispute with a former business associate still in China, who allegedly paid more than $400,000 to orchestrate the raid in 2019, according to officials.
“At some point, this wealthy Chinese national decided to hire these mercenaries to go carry out what they did," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada told reporters in downtown LA.
"The goal was to get this person to sign a contract to give away his business rights. That’s what he ended up doing, but he did it by force, intimidation and extortion," Estrada said.
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According to the indictment, one of the conspirators was now-retired deputy Steven A. Lankford, who was actively employed as a law enforcement officer at the time, Estrada said Lankford used his badge and access to law enforcement databases and resources to plan and execute the raid.
“He used his badge to gain entry into the home. He used his authority as a Sheriff’s deputy to intimidate the family and to threaten the businessman with deportation," Estrada said.
Lankford had retired in 2017 but returned to the Sheriff's Department to work a limited number of hours each year as a part-time employee and was working in that capacity at the time of the 2019 incident, according to prosecutors.
Lankford's defense attorney declined to comment on the allegations.
The indictment, which accuses the four of taking part in a conspiracy to commit extortion and the deprivation of rights under the color of law, said Lankford also tried to shut down an investigation into the raid after the victim reported it to the Irvine Police Department.
The four defendants made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court Monday afternoon.
The name of the businesswoman in China who allegedly directed the raid did not appear in the criminal complaint.
