VeeshanVault

We're already on the phone with our friends at Merriam Webster to get the definition of poetic justice revised: Stefan Eriksson -- the former Gizmondo executive who stepped down amidst allegations of his involvement in the Uppsala Mafia Swedish organized crime ring, and who perhaps most embodied the internal corruption of Tiger Telematics -- no longer has his 2003 Ferrari Enzo, of which 399 were made, and each cost a million dollars. You see, apparently while racing a Mercedes SLR the car careened off an embankment and hit a pole at about 125MPH, which literally split the thing in two right down the center (don't worry, he lived to see this post). Without giggling too much longer at the unbelievable irony of this incident, it's worth noting that some more deets have surfaced about just how how much money Gizmondo hemorrhaged last year before filing for bankruptcy: between January and September of 2005 Tiger Telematics lost £140m (about $244 million), up another 33m from the $210 in the hole they were when we reported on their operating losses last year. So without getting too schadenfreude up in this piece, let's just say this post goes out to all the disenfranchised Gizmondo owners and former employees of Tiger Telematics, and we'll leave it at that.

Cotto wrote:Jesus christ, did it crash or tear up on re entry of the planet. For fucks sake that looks like the engine just lying in the middle of the road!

Kelshara wrote:The Enzo is about as ugly as a car can be. However, it does prove that $1mill can get you a safe driver compartment heh.

Kelshara wrote:The Enzo is about as ugly as a car can be. However, it does prove that $1mill can get you a safe driver compartment heh.

Funkmasterr wrote:

Kelshara wrote:The Enzo is about as ugly as a car can be. However, it does prove that $1mill can get you a safe driver compartment heh.

No shit, if the thing can crash at 150 mph and be torn to shreds and there are no injuries reported.. you know that car is fucking built solid.

Truant wrote:I'd like to know the amount his insurance will increase now.

Sendarie wrote:

Truant wrote:I'd like to know the amount his insurance will increase now.

If he can afford an Enzo I seriously doubt insurance is or ever will be a concern.

As we reported yesterday, Stefan Eriksson, former executive officer of Gizmondo and a convicted fraudster and liar, saw his $1,000,000 Ferrari Enzo smashed to pieces in a high speed crash in Malibu during an illegal street race.

Speaking exclusively to SPOnG today, investigating officers revealed some startling new details on the wreck. Not only has the suspected speed of the crash been upped to 162 MPH, but it turns out the car is possibly stolen property, exported unlawfully to the US and driven illegally on the roads of California.

“It looks as though the car lifted up and left the highway,” Sgt. Phil Brooks of Malibu Sheriff's Department explained. “That's what caused him to lose it. We're looking at the distances travelled, the wreckage and all of that and we've upped the speed to 162 MPH.”

Brooks outlined that he's fully aware of Eriksson's history. “I've gotten just about everything on him. The previous prison time, the $290,000,000 or maybe it's a different figure, the Mafia ties – even on some of his colleagues. Believe me, I've been taking calls from London, Sweden, everywhere on this. From the Gizmondo Caper...” And how does this look to Brooks? “They duped them for all their money and walked out.”

Continuing on the crash details themselves, Brooks continues, “We have to speak to all the witnesses and get their stories, compare the inconsistencies in [Eriksson's] statements and then reinterview him. And then if necessary we'll have to use physical evidence, possibly blood and collect that, if necessary.” Fingerprints too? “All things like that. But you know, the bottom line is he's looking at misdemeanour charges – not felonies. These are charges that would give him a year in county jail, though he'll 99.9% just get a fine. And someone who made $4,000,000 last year from what I'm told, a $1,000 fine isn't really going to do much to him. And the questions is, will the Sheriff's Department spend $500 on forensics for a $1,000 fine...”

Although it looks certain that Eriksson will escape with a slap on the wrist in the US, the further repercussions of so publicly planting himself on the radar might well catch up with him. Not least as, given the Gizmondo exec's history and emerging claims from a UK bank, the Enzo looks to be stolen.

“There are a lot of questions about ownership [of the Ferrari Enzo]. I have the Bank of Scotland telling me they own it. He brought this car and another Ferrari and an SLR Mercedes through customs. They're all show cars – they're not street-legal. So there's issues there but that has to do with crimes elsewhere and they're probably more financial.”

And it continues. According to investigating officers, the Enzo looks to have been illegally obtained in the first place. “Apparently there was some sort of fraudulent financing for it, and allegedly the Bank of Scotland repossessed the vehicle. I'm still awaiting paperwork from them but that appears to be the case.” So the Bank of Scotland tried to make good their legal repossession and Eriksson just shipped it the US? “Possibly. I don't know the time lines on that but yes, that's what it looks like. The car still had a European registration – nothing had been done to attempt to give it a Californian registration and he fully knew that he couldn't drive those cars on the street without that.”

So what next? Is it possible that you can have such an episode in your life and just walk away uninjured and completely free? “You can take the step and maybe we'll get him behind the wheel as the driver, the other misdemeanours, though, usually will be just a financial penalty.”

“And in his case, $2,000 isn't a big deal.”

Entrepreneur involved in Enzo Ferrari crash arrested

Monday, April 10, 2006; Posted: 9:44 a.m. EDT (13:44 GMT)
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The Swedish video game entrepreneur involved in the 162-mph crash of a rare Ferrari has been arrested on suspicion of grand theft, officials said.

Detectives concluded that the wrecked Enzo Ferrari -- one of only 400 made -- along with a Mercedes and another Enzo Ferrari in Stefan Eriksson's collection were actually owned by British financial institutions, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Eriksson apparently brought the cars to Los Angeles when he moved from Britain last year, but the financial institutions that held the titles said his payments had lapsed.

Authorities have said the $600,000 Mercedes had been reported to London's Scotland Yard. The Ferrari was worth more than $1 million.

All three cars have been confiscated, and Eriksson, 44, was arrested at his Bel-Air home Saturday, Whitmore said.

He is being held without bail because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement put a hold him, the Los Angeles Times reported in Monday editions.

The Ferrari crash spun into a web of mystery when Eriksson told authorities that he was only a passenger in the car and that the driver was a German acquaintance he knew only as Dietrich. He said Dietrich ran into the hills, but a search by sheriff's deputies turned up no one.

Officials have questioned Eriksson's story, noting that only the driver's side air bag had blood on it and Eriksson had a cut lip. The front of the red Ferrari crumpled when it slammed into a poll on the Pacific Coast Highway on February 21.

Eriksson was an executive with Gizmondo, a European video game company that filed for bankruptcy.