Five motel employees who offered customers more than mints on their pillows may be checking into jail.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced that the employees, who worked at the Kew Motor Inn, located at 139-01 Grand Central Parkway, and the Par Central Motor Inn, located at 82-85 Parsons Boulevard – both of which are located in residential areas of Kew Gardens – were arrested for prostitution-related offenses during police raids on the night of March 27. The two motels, which served as havens for prostitutes and their pimps, were also closed under the city’s nuisance abatement law.
According to Brown, undercover police officers posing as prostitutes and customers have visited the two motels since December of 2011, witnessing various acts of illegal activity.
The five defendants, identified as Par Central desk clerks Harripersa Ramjattan, Bhaskar Chaniha and Wojuech Sady and Kew Motor Inn desk clerks Atm Raham and Masum Chowdhury, allegedly accepted bribes, allowed undercover officers to rent rooms without proper identification and knowingly allowed prostitution activity on the premises. The employees also occasionally assisted in illegal actions, including notifying undercover officers posing as prostitutes when customers had arrived and directing the clients to the rooms.
“These two motels have been deemed public nuisances that have generated numerous prostitution-related arrests – including those involving underage girls – during the past year and have been the subject of numerous complaints from local residents,” Brown said. “This office – together with our law enforcement and other governmental agency colleagues – is committed to working with local communities in eliminating crime and business practices that promote criminal activity. The actions that we have taken this week send a clear message – businesses that allow prostitution or other illegal activity to occur on their premises are at risk of being shut down.”
Ramjattan and Raham, 63 and 56 years old respectively, have been charged with promoting prostitution, first-and-second-degree falsifying business records, second-degree commercial bribe receiving and permitting prostitution, and face seven years in prison if convicted. Chaniha, 52, and Chowdhury, 46, each face four years in prison if found guilty of first-and-second degree falsifying business records, second-degree commercial bribe receiving and permitting prostitution. Wojuech Sady – the youngest of the defendants at 25 years of age – was charged with promoting prostitution, second-degree commercial bribe receiving, fourth-degree promoting prostitution and permitting prostitution. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
