The ex-cops were allegedly part of a group of so-called mercenaries hired to get a man in Irvine to sign over businesses worth more than $37 million.
Federal prosecutors allege a team of"mercenaries" carried out a $37 million extortion at the direction of a businesswoman in ChinaAn 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.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.
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