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A month after a wealthy Katonah musician took his virus-plagued computer to a Mount Kisco technology store, he was agreeing in writing that the store owner, who is charged with swindling him, could tell lies at will.
“All rationale and discussions may be of a fictitious and professorial nature,” the 2004 document stated. “Thus, these discussions may not be regarded as truth.”
The agreement was among dozens of documents that outline an unusual business relationship between Roger Davidson and Vickram Bedi, the owner of the computer firm who is charged with swindling Davidson out of $20 million.
Prosecutors allege Bedi masterminded a six-year scam on Davidson, an oil-fortune heir who founded Soundbrush Records and the Society for Universal Sacred Music.
Bedi’s defense lawyer, Anthony Giordano, has accused Davidson of being mentally ill, paying Bedi millions to lie to him as part of a role-playing game and then setting him up after a multimillion-dollar hedge fund deal went bad.
The 37-year-old Chappaqua man is being held on $5 million bail, awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree grand larceny. His mother, Chhaya Bedi, and his lawyer, Giordano, released the documents to The Journal News, saying they proved Bedi never used false pretenses to take money from Davidson.
“Vickram is the victim here,” his mother said.
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, said the full story would come out at trial and that his office stands behind the grand jury’s indictment.
“Mr. Giordano’s cherry-picked documents, taken out of context, hardly paint an accurate picture of the case,” he said. “This office tries its cases in the court, not on the front page.”
Bedi and Davidson entered into about two dozen contracts over the course of their six-year relationship. In one of the first, dated Sept. 18, 2004, Davidson agreed to pay Bedi $45,000 upfront plus $1,936 a week for four years.
By May 2005, Davidson was tied to Bedi’s company, Datalink, for 16 years, paying the business $14,500 a week for the first eight years and $18,525 weekly for the last eight. Four months later, Davidson and Bedi’s signatures were on a document agreeing to “advanced missions,” “jamming and radio interference tests” and “security advice, as needed.”
Article source: http://www.lohud.com/article/20120225/NEWS02/302250056
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