By Rebecca Henely
A Queens Supreme Court jury found Far Rockaway resident Jerry Ramrattan, 39, guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend and then framing her in a complex scheme that put her in a Nassau County prison for seven months, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
“The jury in this case has righted a terrible wrong and justice has finally been served for the victim,” District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.
Ramrattan was convicted of rape, three counts of perjury, two counts of conspiracy, one count of tampering with a witness and three counts of falsely reporting an incident. He faces more than 25 years in prison at his sentencing, which has been set for Jan. 4, the DA said.
Frank Kelly, Ramrattan’s Bayside lawyer, asserted during his closing arguments that Seemona Sumasar, a 36-year-old former Morgan Stanley financial analyst and bakery owner, was inconsistent on the details of her financial status as well as the rape and thus was not a credible witness.
Ramrattan and Sumasar met through her bakery, but the relationship was over by the time of Ramrattan’s attack, the DA said.
Nevertheless, Ramrattan was still living in the basement of Sumasar’s Far Rockaway home March 8, 2009, the DA said. After an argument that day, Ramrattan tied her up with duct tape and dragged her to the basement, where he raped her, the DA said.
Sumasar went to Queens Hospital in Jamaica after the attack and Ramrattan was arrested on rape charges on March 11, 2009, the DA said. Following his release on bail, Ramrattan threatened to harm the family of club promoter Rajive Mohanlal if he did not lie and say Sumasar and Vishnanauth “Elvis” Bandhu had robbed him in 2009, the DA said. Ramrattan also planted a bullet round at the scene, the DA said.
In 2010, Ramrattan also paid Brooklyn resident Terrell Lovell and New Jersey resident Luz Johnson to say Sumasar and Bandhu robbed them in Nassau County, the DA said.
Mohanlal, Lovell and Johnson lied before grand juries against Sumasar, and she was held in a Nassau prison for seven months on charges of robbery, criminal impersonation and other counts, the DA said. Unable to make the $1 million bail, she was released after an informant came forward in December 2010, the DA said.
Bandhu initially met Ramrattan, who said he was a private investigator, when he hired him to find who murdered his brother in 2008, but later found out he was not a part of law enforcement. Bandhu also met Sumasar through Ramrattan. After being falsely accused and charged with robbery and impersonating a police officer, Bandhu made bail but lost $250,000 to $280,000 in legal fees.
The Queens court prosecuted Ramrattan for both the crimes in Queens and Nassau.
Sumasar said the verdict gave her the chance to start her life again, The New York Times reported.
“Jerry told so many lies, and I was imprisoned because authorities had decided to believe him. But I am not bitter,” Sumasar told the Times. “The truth won out in the end.”
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
