Caught On Tape Swiping Dough: D.A.
A baggage cart employee from Richmond Hill who works at John F. Kennedy International Airport has been charged with grand larceny and other charges in connection with the alleged theft of $20,000 in cash from a passenger’s computer bag mistakenly left it in a parking lot, it was announced.
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown identified the defendant as Rajendranauth Ramsahai, 58, of 117th Street in Richmond Hill, who is employed by Smarte Carte, Inc. He was charged with third-degree grand larceny and one count of petit larceny; he faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
“[Ramsahai] is accused of taking advantage of the forgetfulness of a passenger who had just arrived from an international flight and mistakenly left his computer case-packed with $20,000 cash and other valuables- on a baggage cart in a parking lot,” Brown said. “Airport workers should be helping passengers-not taking advantage of them. A lost bag is not an invitation to thieves.”
According to the charges, on May 2 between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., inside of the Blue Parking Lot, lane 107, at JFK airport, the complainant left his computer case, which contained, among other things, $20,000 in United States currency, on a Smarte Carte baggage cart (a self-serve vended luggage cart) in an empty parking space then got into a vehicle and drove away.
A short time later, it was reported, Ramsahai was captured on surveillance video walking up to the bag- gage cart, searching through the bag, and taking the bag away. He later admitted that he had found a bag on a Smarte Carte and said that he took $600 from the bag and spent the money on gasoline, fast food, and some other stuff, and then left the computer bag and its contents, minus the currency, against a cement wall at the crosswalk.
The investigation was conducted by Port Authority Police Department Det. Donald Conklin, under the supervision of Det. Lt. Michael Milne, and the overall supervision of Inspector Brian Sullivan, Chief of Department John Ryan and Superintendent Michael A. Fedorko.
Assistant District Attorney Catherine C. Kane, chief of the Airport Investigations Unit, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gerard A. Brave, bureau chief of the District Attorney’s Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Mark L. Katz, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.
It was noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
