Four ex-law enforcement and military officers were to be charged Aug. 12 in what prosecutors allege was an extortion scheme in which a bogus law enforcement team 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.
An updated indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court charges the defendants with one count each of conspiracy to commit extortion, attempted extortion, conspiracy against rights, and deprivation of rights under color of law, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- Steven Arthur Lankford, 68, of Canyon Country, a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department 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.
In December 2018, the Chinese national—who was not indicted—allegedly contacted Turbett to help locate and recover assets from the Irvine man. The Chinese woman promised Turbett that if he helped her, “we can both retire,'' prosecutors allege.
In June 2019, Turbett and the unindicted co-conspirator drafted purported settlement agreements calling for the Irvine man to transfer assets—including nearly $37 million in cash as well as lucrative shares in the rubber chemical company—to the woman, the indictment alleges.
Federal prosecutors contend that Turbett hired Cozart to locate the Orange County businessman and assemble a team to obtain his signature on the settlement agreements. Cozart, in turn, hired Lankford, then an LASD deputy, who searched the businessman’s name and date of birth in a database at the sheriff’s department, in violation of LASD policy, according to court papers.
Turbett and Hart flew from Australia to Los Angeles, where they met with Cozart and Lankford to discuss plans for the sham raid, court papers Allege.
On June 17, 2019, Lankford—in violation of LASD policy—drove an unmarked sheriff’s vehicle to the Irvine man’s home with Cozart, Hart and Turbett, the updated indictment alleges. Lankford and Cozart then allegedly approached the businessman outside his home.
Prosecutors say Lankford 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 the Orange County man, his wife, and their two children into one room, took their phones, and prevented them from leaving for hours. The businessman was slammed against a wall and choked, the indictment alleges, and the defendants threatened to deport the man and his wife and permanently separate them from their 4-year-old son unless the man complied.
Fearing for his and his family’s safety, the businessman ultimately signed the documents, thereby relinquishing his multimillion-dollar interest in the rubber company, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Although Lankford told the Irvine man that he would be arrested and deported if he reported the incident to police, the man immediately contacted the Irvine Police Department after defendants left his home. Lankford thereafter spoke with an Irvine police officer and falsely claimed that he had been at the man’s Irvine home for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, that the man consented to all parties being in his home, and that no force was used, court papers show.
By November 2019, all the defendants had been paid for their efforts. The unindicted Chinese national paid Turbett’s company about $419,813 for services rendered and emailed Turbett to thank him for a ``very good job,'' the indictment alleges.
``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,'' Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement.
If convicted, the defendants would face up to 20 years in federal prison for each extortion-related count and up to 10 years for each deprivation of rights-related count, prosecutors noted.
