DA: Westchester Man Bilked Oil Scion Out of $20m

It started with a virus-infected computer, then turned into an outlandish, conspiracy theory-based fraud pulled from the pages of a bad Dan Brown novel.

A Westchester man is accused of bilking an oil scion out of $20 million by inventing wild stories involving the CIA, Opus Dei and covert missions to Honduras. This week, the suspect - Vickram Bedi of Mount Kisco -- was indicted Katonah resident Roger Davison out his millions.

Bedi was arraigned Tuesday morning at county court in White Plains, according to Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the district attorney. Both Bedi and his company, Datalink, have been charged with one count of first-degree grand larceny, a felony. Bedi was first arrested in November 2010 on the same charge, but this week's indictment occured after conference talks, which could have produced a plea deal but did not lead to an agreement.

Bedi, who was originally jailed on $5 million bail but managed to get it lowered to $3.5 million, saw his bail restored to its original amount at a Tuesday morning court appearance. He's currently at Westchester County Jail in Valhalla, according to Chalfen.

From August 2004 to August 2010, Bedi, using Datalink, is a concert pianist and heir to the Schulmberger oilfield company fortune. Back in 2004, Davidson took his virus-stricken computer into Datalink because he was afraid of losing his documents and musical work.

That's when Bedi began what authorities say was an elaborate and increasingly-absurd fraud. Bedi told Davidson the source of the virus came from a hard drive located in a remote Honduras village. He told the Katonah man that he enlisted the aid of his uncle, who he said was a military officer, to retrieve the hard drive from the South American village.

Bedi is accused of squeezing millions more out of Davidson over the following years, telling the Katonah man he was the target of shadowy forces in the CIA and malicious Polish priests in the group Opus Dei. A fictional version of Opus Dei, a lay organization in the Catholic Church, has been the subject of several Dan Brown novels, including The Da Vinci Code.

Bedi's mother, who works at Datalink, disputes the charges.

"This is all lies," the mother, identified as Chhaya Bedi by The Journal News for its story on the arraignment, told the paper. She would not give out her first name when Patch contacted her Tuesday afternoon.

In an interview, the elder Bedi had harsh words for the judicial system.

"It is no less than lynching," she said of how her son was treated. She also feels that the justice system has been discriminatory, saying "you have to be rich and white."

Bedi's mother disputed the need for making the bail higher, stating that her son did not intend to flee to Iceland as alleged by the prosecution, and that he came back home after making a previous trip. Additionally, she showed legal contracts that she claims Davidson had signed with Datalink, including a July 2005 indemnification for services as a condition of trusteeship.

Bedi, along with girlfriend Helga Ingvarsdottir, were arrested on grand larceny charges more than a year ago by Harrison police, who initiated the investigation in July 2010 because two residents in Purchase discovered GPS devices on their vehicles. Police said a paranoid Davidson thought they posed a threat to him after several years of listening to Bedi's conspiracy tale. Mount Kisco and New Castle police provided mutual aid during the 2010 investigative work.

Ingvarsdottir took a plea deal on Dec. 14, 2010, to one count of first-degree grand larceny and one count of second-degree grand larceny, both felonies. She awaits sentencing, Chalfen said.

If Bedi goes to trail and is convicted, he faces between eight and one third to 25 years in prison. He has a conference date with Judge Barbara Zambelli on Dec. 20 in county court.

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