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Heir to schlumberger OILfield
services fortune fleeced of at least six
million dollars Westchester
County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced today that Vickram Bedi (DOB ·
one count of Grand Larceny in the First Degree, a class “B” Felony. Over a
six year period from August 2004 through to October 2010, the defendants,
through Datalink Computer Services, their computer service
business located at The
victim, a noted pianist and composer, is the great-grandson and great
grand-nephew of the two brothers who founded Schlumberger Ltd. the multi-national
oilfield services company headquartered in The
defendants, 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. The
scheme commenced in August 2004, when the victim’s computer developed a virus.
Concerned that documents, photos and more importantly the music he had
written and had stored on the computer could be lost, the victim took the
computer to the defendant’s premises to have it repaired. Bedi
confirmed that victim’s computer had a virus and indicated that the virus was
extremely virulent and had also damaged Datalink’s
computers. Bedi told the victim that he had the facility, the contacts,
and the means of tracking down the source of this virus that specifically
targeted the victim’s computer and that he and his family were in grave
danger. As a result, Bedi convinced the victim to
not only begin paying for computer data retrieval and security, but also to
begin paying for necessary personal physical protection. Bedi subsequently advised the victim that he successfully
tracked the source of the computer virus to a remote village in Bedi further related that his uncle obtained information that
Polish priests affiliated with Opus Dei were attempting to possibly harm the
victim. . Bedi also advised the victim 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 Over this
period Datalink charged the victim’s American
Express card accounts on a continuing and monthly basis, resulting of a
larceny of more than six million dollars. In July
of 2010, the Harrison Police Department became involved when interested
parties contacted them regarding a civil matter relating to the
investigation. The
Harrison Police Department and the Organized Crime Bureau of the District
Attorney’s Office were the primary investigating agencies, with assistance from
the The
defendants were arrested by Harrison Police Department at their home as they
were preparing to leave the country. “As is charged
in the complaint, these two defendants preyed upon, duped and exploited the
fears of this victim with cold calculation and callousness,” said District
Attorney Janet DiFiore after the defendant’s were arraigned. “The systematic
method with which they continued the larceny over a period of more than six years
is nothing short of heartless.” Bail was
set at $5 Million bond over $3 Million cash for each of the two defendants. Both
defendants were ordered to surrender their passports. Temporary orders of
protection in favor of the victim have been issued. Their
next court date in The
defendants face a maximum of eight and one third to twenty five years in
state prison. Assistant
District Attorney Steven Vandervelden, Chief of the
Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau, is prosecuting the case.
Vickram Bedi Helga Invarsdottir In compliance with Disciplinary Rule 7-107A of the
Code of Professional Responsibility, you are advised that a
charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and
unless proven guilty. |
