Ex-Gizmondo Exec Eriksson Arrested Following Crash

Continuing the much-scrutineered story of ex-Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson's high-profile accident in Los Angeles, which destroyed his $1 million Ferrari Enzo sports car in February, the former Gizmondo executive was taken from his Bel-Air home Saturday night and is being held without bail for “suspicion of grand theft”, according to police reports. Authorities have also placed an immigration hold on Eriksson, no doubt in an effort to ensure that he remains in their custody pending the outcome of the investigation. In a further development, former Gizmondo Europe head Carl Freer is now being sued by London law firm Manches for more than UKP500,000 ($870,000) for unpaid legal services, according to a report in the UK Mail on Sunday. The firm represents Gizmondo's former solicitors - the company is now officially bankrupt in Europe, although a U.S. subsidiary still appears to be solvent. Eriksson, who resigned from Gizmondo last October following controversy over the company's financial performance and significant financial perks to company directors, has maintained that he was merely a passenger in the vehicle that slammed into a concrete utility pole on the Pacific Coast Highway at 160 miles per hour, and was sheared in two, just behind the driver's seat. There has been considerable doubt cast by both authorities and the media as to the validity of his claim. The Ferrari was one of three vehicles thought to have been illegally imported by Eriksson. The second, a British-registered Mercedes McLaren, was seized by police on March 28 from Eriksson's wife, Nicole Persson, after discovering that she had no driver's license, and that the vehicle had no U.S. registration. It was later discovered that the car was reported as having been stolen in England. Authorities are currently investigating the third vehicle, a black Ferrari Enzo, and the same Mail on Sunday reports referencing Freer's issues indicate that all three of Eriksson's cars are being claimed by the UK financial institutions that originally leased them to Gizmondo - Bank of Scotland, Lombard and Yorkshire Bank.