Monday, April 17, 2006

The High-Octane Story of the Felon and the Ferrari

It is time for another gripping episode of The F-Files! The Washington Post actually placed this as a lead story on their website--complete with the pic of the wreaked Ferrari. Much of the details in the story have already been reported from the Los Angeles Times, but I found a few more interesting details. Consider this off the Washington Post article:

While Eriksson was talking with deputies, two other men arrived at the scene of the crash and said they were with the Department of Homeland Security. They spoke with Eriksson and then left. Sheriff's investigators say they do not know who they were. Also on the scene was an Irishman named Trevor Karney, a friend of Eriksson's who might have left a fully loaded gun clip behind at the crash site. Investigators suspect Karney may have fled the country -- on a yacht.

So that's who left the Glock magazine clip behind--an Irish friend of Eriksson's, named Trevor Karney, who then may have fled the country on a yacht?

Now that's fleeing the country in style.

The LA Times also has more details regarding Eriksson's arraignment. Consider this:

Los Angeles prosecutors filed embezzlement, grand theft, drunk driving and weapons charges Monday against a former European video game executive, whose crash of a rare Ferrari Enzo in Malibu two months ago has mushroomed into a case filled with international intrigue.

The charges, more extensive than prosecutors had suggested last week, come as officials with Scotland Yard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continue to investigate the case, which involves the Swedish underworld, fake Homeland Security officials and an exotic car collection.

If convicted on all counts, Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, 44, would face up to 14 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty through his attorney, who described the charges as "overblown."

Laying out their case against Eriksson for the first time, prosecutors accused him of embezzlement and grand theft for allegedly bringing the Enzo and the rest of his $3.8-million car collection to the United States, even though he had only leased them from British financial institutions. The lease contract, authorities said, prohibited him from taking the vehicles out of England.

He was also charged with possessing a handgun, which is illegal because he had been convicted of drug and counterfeiting felonies in Sweden.

Eriksson, dressed in an orange jail uniform, appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom packed with journalists from around the world.

His attorneys protested that the $5.5-million bail set by Judge Mary Strobel was excessive. Prosecutors sought the high amount because they said detectives searching his Bel-Air estate April 8 found an airline ticket in Eriksson's name that would have him depart to London two days later.

This is getting fun. Stay tuned.

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