Four ex-law enforcement and military officers are scheduled to be arraigned today on a four-count superseding indictment that alleges they acted as a sham law enforcement team that entered an Irvine man's home and threatened him and his family with violence and deportation unless he turned over nearly $37 million and signed away his rights in a business – worth tens of millions of dollars – that he shared with a wealthy Chinese national who secretly financed the bogus raid.
The superseding indictment filed on August 1, charges the following defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy against rights, and one count of deprivation of rights under color of law:
Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputy who stopped working for LASD in 2020 and owns a Santa Clarita-based process service company;
Glen Louis Cozart, 63, of Upland, a former LASD deputy who owns and operates a San Bernardino County-based private investigation and security services company;
Max Samuel Bennett Turbett, 39, of Australia, a United Kingdom citizen and former member of the British military who owns an Australia-based private investigation and asset recovery business; and
Matthew Phillip Hart, 41, of Australia, an Australian citizen and former member of the Australian military who owns an Australia-based risk management services business.
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
"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."
"The defendants in this case allegedly believed they could carry out vigilante justice by using official police powers to enter the home of vulnerable victims and extorting them out of millions of dollars," said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. "The FBI will not tolerate civil rights violations by anyone who takes the law into their own hands for personal gain or otherwise."
According to the superseding indictment, the Irvine businessman – identified as "Victim 1" – had an ongoing business dispute with an unindicted co-conspirator – the wealthy Chinese national – regarding their respective ownership interests in Jiangsu Sinorgchem Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based rubber chemical manufacturer. Their dispute led to at least three lawsuits in China and one in Atlanta. In October 2013, the Chinese national alleged in a civil court filing that China had issued a "red notice" for Victim 1, which Victim 1 understood was linked to his business dispute with the unindicted co-conspirator.
In December 2018, the unindicted co-conspirator allegedly contacted Turbett to help locate and recover assets from Victim 1. She said that the long and costly litigation had not been "the smart way" to handle her dispute with Victim 1 and asked Turbett to find a different "solution to finish the problem." She promised Turbett that if he helped her, "we can both retire."
In June 2019, Turbett and the unindicted co-conspirator drafted purported settlement agreements calling for Victim 1 to transfer assets – including approximately $36,972,386 in cash as well as lucrative shares in Jiangsu Sinorgchem – to the unindicted co-conspirator.
Turbett allegedly hired Cozart to locate Victim 1 and assemble a team to obtain Victim 1's signature on the settlement agreements. Cozart, in turn, hired Lankford, then an LASD deputy, who searched Victim 1's name and date of birth in the National Crime Information Center database using his Justice Data Interface Controller terminal at LASD, in violation of LASD policy that law enforcement databases only be used for law enforcement purposes and not for personal use.
Turbett and Hart flew from Australia to Los Angeles, where they met with Cozart and Lankford to discuss plans for the sham raid.
On June 17, 2019, Lankford – in violation of LASD policy – drove an unmarked LASD vehicle to Victim 1's home with Cozart, Hart and Turbett, the superseding indictment alleges. Lankford and Cozart then approached Victim 1 outside his home. Lankford allegedly identified himself as a police officer and showed his badge, while Cozart falsely identified himself as an "Immigration" officer.
Under the guise of a legitimate law enforcement operation, the defendants allegedly entered the home, where they forced Victim 1, his wife, and their two children into one room, took their phones, and prevented them from leaving for hours. Victim 1 was slammed against a wall and choked, the superseding indictment states. Defendants allegedly also threatened to deport Victim 1 and his wife and permanently separate them from their 4-year-old son unless Victim 1 complied with their demands.
Fearing for his and his family's safety, the superseding indictment alleges that Victim 1 ultimately signed the documents, thereby relinquishing his multimillion-dollar interest in Jiangsu Sinorgchem.
Although Lankford told Victim 1 that he would be arrested and deported if he reported the incident to police, Victim 1 immediately contacted the Irvine Police Department (IPD) after defendants left his home. Lankford thereafter spoke with an IPD officer and falsely claimed that he had been at Victim 1's home for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, that Victim 1 consented to all parties being in his home, and that no force was used.
By November 2019, all the defendants had been paid for their efforts. The unindicted co-conspirator paid Turbett's company approximately $419,813 for services rendered and emailed Turbett to thank him for a "very good job," the superseding indictment alleges.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each extortion-related count and up to 10 years in federal prison for each deprivation of rights-related count.
The FBI is investigating this matter. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Irvine Police Department provided substantial assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney Cassie D. Palmer of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this case.
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