The investigation into a former Swedish video game executive whose rare Ferrari crashed in Malibu widened Monday as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency confirmed it is investigating Stefan Eriksson.
Eriksson, 44, is expected to appear in court today or Wednesday after Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested him over the weekend. They allege that his $3.5-million car collection -- the red Ferrari Enzo, a black Enzo and a custom Mercedes -- belonged to British financial institutions, not to him.
Sheriff's officials told The Times on Monday that in addition to the cars, detectives who searched his Bel-Air home seized several computers, a firearm and a substance believed to be cocaine. Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said the substance is now being tested.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, declined to provide details about the inquiry. But one question that has emerged since the crash is how Eriksson was able to get the rare cars into the United States -- especially if British financial institutions claimed ownership of them.
Kice said that the customs agency has placed an immigration hold on Eriksson so if he is released from the county's Men's Central Jail it will be able to take him into custody.
"He is potentially subject to deportation," she said.
The federal probe is just one of several into Eriksson and the crash.
The Sheriff's Department is investigating the Malibu accident as well as a San Gabriel Valley transit company where Eriksson served as a member of the "anti-terrorism" unit. Scotland Yard has told local authorities it is investigating the ownership of at least one of the cars in his collection.
Although no one was seriously injured in the February crash, the investigation has generated significant attention because of the strange circumstances surrounding it and the fact that it destroyed one of the only 400 Enzos ever built. Authorities believe the car was going 162 mph when it smashed into a power pole.
Eriksson told deputies who arrived at the scene that he was not the driver and that a man named Dietrich had been behind the wheel. Eriksson said Dietrich fled the scene.
Investigators took a swab of Eriksson's saliva in order to compare his DNA to blood found on the Ferrari's driver-side air bag. The results are back, but detectives won't release the findings.
