Ferrari fiasco opens door to federal and state investigators, as Stefan Eriksson admits he was behind the wheel of the $1.2 million Enzo Ferrari that crashed on PCH several months ago. The Swedish national could face up to 14 years in prison.
By Hans Laetz / Special to the Malibu Times
The international case of intrigue and legal maneuvering that started with the spectacular Enzo Ferrari wipeout on Pacific Coast Highway two months ago has again escalated with the arrest of a second Swedish businessman on related charges, and prosecutors revealing their case against Stefan Eriksson in a Los Angeles courtroom on Monday.
A detective for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department testified Monday that Eriksson has now admitted driving the car at 162 mph on Feb. 21, and said the former game company executive blamed the false story about a mysterious German driver named “Dietrich” as a result of a blackout.
Eriksson, 44, faces up to 14 years in prison if he is convicted on seven counts of felony embezzlement, grand theft auto and illegal possession of a firearm, and two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Eriksson’s preliminary hearing started the day after business associate, Carl Freer, was arrested for using a badge from what sheriff’s officials say is a dubious police department of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority, a tiny agency that provides rides to the disabled and elderly, to bypass gun purchase laws. The men were directors of Gizmondo, a company whose $300 million demise may have funded Eriksson’s globe-trotting, exotic car lifestyle.
Federal and state officials raided Freer’s home and his $14 million motor yacht docked at Marina del Rey last week. Television helicopters showed pictures of agents emerging with garbage sacks full of evidence from the yacht, and at least 16 rifles and shotguns were seized there and at Freer’s Bel-Air home.
Freer has hired Sitrick and Co., a public relations company known for handling crisis management situations, which issued a press release in which Freer vehemently denied having purchased guns under any false identity. As a Swedish national, Freer is not allowed to buy any weapons in the U.S., prosecutors said.
Freer’s gun purchases became the subject of a criminal probe after deputies started investigating his participation, along with Eriksson, in the “anti-terrorism unit” of the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority that issued identification cards.
Eriksson’s legal woes were spread out over three days of meticulous evidence presentations at his preliminary hearing at the Los Angeles Superior Court. Deputy Los Angeles County District Attorney Tamara Hall asked witnesses to lay out the chain of events including the 162-mph wipeout on Pacific Coast Highway, and the jailing of Eriksson on the nine charges of embezzlement, grand theft, drunk driving and illegal gun possession.
Eriksson’s bond was lowered from $5.5 million to $3 million, and he would be confined to his house with an ankle bracelet if he is released. But federal officials have placed a hold on his release, until he answers possible illegal immigration or other federal charges.
At the preliminary hearing, which is designed to allow a judge to determine if there is probable cause to maintain charges against the defendant, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy David Huelson testified about Eriksson’s appearance just after the Feb. 21 crash that destroyed one of three expensive collectible cars that Eriksson allegedly stole from three British banks.
“He seemed like he was in a mild state of shock, his eyes were red and he smelled of alcohol,” Huelson testified.
Eriksson’s first breath test indicated a .093 percent blood alcohol content, above the .08 percent level that is presumed in California to indicate driving under the influence of alcohol.
Defense attorney David Elden began the effort to chip away at the sheriff’s case by asking Huelson if he recalled speaking to another deputy, who put in his report that passenger Trevor Karney had told officers a deer had triggered the accident by running into the Enzo’s path.
Karney has reportedly returned to his native Ireland, and deputies said they would like to speak with him again, possibly about the loaded Gloeck gun clip that was stashed in a witness’ car, who stopped at the crash site.
Defense attorneys have begun efforts to portray the dispute between Eriksson and the British banks as an accounting dispute. They filed court documents saying Eriksson was in negotiations with the car’s titleholders to sell his mansion near London to partly settle his debts on the $3.5 million worth of exotic show cars.
But federal customs officials testified Friday that the three British banks reported the cars stolen after Eriksson stopped making payments on them. Monthly payments on one Enzo were $8,812.
Two customs agents testified Friday that Eriksson used suspicious paperwork to import the two Enzos and the Mercedes into the U.S. The three cars made the journey to America in the cargo holds of Virgin Airways 747s.
Eriksson’s attorneys also said the ex-felon from Sweden had accidentally picked up a friend’s bag containing the handgun found at his house, an accident that has caused authorities to file a felony gun possession charge against him.
The Orange County Sheriff’s office has opened an investigation into how that gun, owned by Roger Davis, a Newport Beach businessman and deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s professional services division, came into Eriksson’s possession.
In testimony Monday, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Zack Conner said that Davis had contacted him about the gun on April 9, according to the Los Angeles Times. Davis told the deputy that he and Eriksson had gone shooting together and accidentally switched bags. However, Conner said Eriksson had told him the night he was arrested, April 7, at his Bel-Air Crest home, that he sometimes carried the gun for protection.
One mystery deepened Friday when a sheriff’s detective revealed that the gull-wing, collectible Mercedes SLR driven into Beverly Hills by Eriksson’s wife contained a black bag full of incriminating documents, including demand letters from the banks, Eriksson’s passport and paperwork detailing the $3.6 million mortgage on Eriksson’s $6 million Bel-Air Crest house.