WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CN) - The heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune claims a couple defrauded him of more than $33 million by persuading him his computer had been hacked by foreigners and intelligence agencies and that his family's life was in danger.
Roger Davidson claims Vickram Bedi and Helga Ingvarsdottir conspired with Wachovia Bank to invest more than $10 million from his family trust into a risky hedge fund without his permission.
Davidson sued Bedi, Ingvarsdottir and their Mount Kisco computer business, Datalink Computer Products, in New York County Court. He also sued Wachovia Bank, its successor Wells Fargo Bank, and seven asset management corporations.
According to the complaint: "On November 4, 2010, the Harrison, New York Police Department arrested Bedi and Ingvarsdottir as they were preparing to leave the United States. The Westchester County District Attorney's Office correctly stated the following facts (incorporated herein) at the arraignment of Bedi and Ingvarsdottir on felony charges of grand larceny in connection with stealing money from Davidson." (Parentheses in complaint.)
Davidson describes himself as "a noted pianist and composer" and "the great-grandson and great grand-nephew of the two brothers who founded Schlumberger Ltd. [a] multi-national oilfield services company." (Brackets in complaint.)
He says Bedi and Ingvarsdottir "extorted" millions of dollars from him during 6 years.
He claims the couple, "acting in concert, were able to defraud the victim by fabricating various security threats and scenarios using non-existent foreign nationals and false affiliations with government intelligence agencies to further the security schemes. They also instilled the fear of bodily harm to the victim, his family and the destruction of the victim's life's work: computers containing various musical compositions."
Davidson says the scheme started in August 2004, when his computer contracted a virus and he took it to Datalink for repair. Davidson says he feared his documents, photos and compositions would be lost.
He says that "Bedi confirmed that [Davidson's] computer had a virus and indicated that the virus was extremely virulent and had also damaged Datalink's computers." (Brackets in complaint.)
The complaint continues: "Bedi told [Davidson] that he had the facility, the contacts, and the means of tracking down the source of this virus that specifically targeted [Davidson's] computer and that he and his family were in grave danger. As a result, Bedi convinced [Davidson] to not only begin paying for computer data retrieval and security, but also to begin paying for necessary personal protection." (Brackets in complaint.)
The alleged scheme becomes increasingly bizarre, as the complaint continues: "Bedi subsequently advised [Davidson] that he successfully tracked down the source of the computer virus to a remote village in Honduras. Bedi informed [Davidson] that the hard drive was the source of the worm that had invaded the computer and advised [Davidson] that Bedi's uncle, who Bedi contended is an officer in the Indian military, flew to Honduras in an Indian military aircraft during a reconnaissance mission and obtained the hard drive.
"Bedi further related that his uncle obtained information that Polish priests affiliated with Opus Dei [a conservative Catholic religious group] were attempting to possibly harm [Davidson]. Bedi also advised [Davidson] that the Central Intelligence Agency had subcontracted with Bedi to perform work which would prevent any attempts by the Polish priests associated with Opus Dei to infiltrate the U.S. government.