By Philip Newman
A 49-year-old Richmond Hill man has been charged with defrauding nearly a dozen members of the Queens West Indian community out of more than $1 million by claiming to be a federal agent, the Queens district attorney said.
DA Richard Brown identified the defendant as Shane Ramsundar of 101-35A 120th St. in South Richmond Hill.
Brown said Ramsundar is awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens on charges in two criminal complaints involving 11 alleged victims.
Ramsundar is charged with grand larceny, a scheme to defraud and criminal impersonation of a public servant. Conviction could bring up to 15 years in prison.
One complaint specified that Pete Baldeo, owner of a tattoo parlor at 127-03 101st Ave. in Richmond Hill, met Ramsundar in May 2008 after hiring his teenage daughter at the store, a neighborhood gathering place for West Indian nationals.
Ramsundar allegedly identified himself as an agent for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who was on loan to the FBI and U.S. Homeland Security Department as an undercover agent, the complaint said.Ramsundar allegedly showed Baldeo a Homeland Security badge and a black automatic handgun worn on a hip, it said.
Ramsundar is accused of telling Baldeo and others in Baldeo’s presence that he could use his insider access to get people green cards and have them removed from deportation lists and even off “terrorist watch” lists in exchange for money, according to the DA.
Brown said it was alleged that Samih Zabib, who is in the United States legally under the county’s amnesty program, met with Ramsundar in February 2008. Zabib allegedly had received notice that his work authorization was not being renewed and he was shocked at the prospect of being deported after raising his family and operating a business here for 22 years, the DA said.
Ramsundar allegedly told Zabib he could get him, along with a friend and a relative, permanent legal status, although it would cost $42,000 and a one-time money order “processing fee” of $1,010 made out to U.S. Immigration and Customs, according to the complaint.
Investigators said Zabib and the two others have never received any change in immigration status from the U.S. government.
Brown said that in March 2007 Kowlessar Mahadeo and Ramish Ramcharran met with Ramsundar, who claimed he was an FBI agent. Ramsundar allegedly drove them around Queens, showing residential properties purportedly seized by the federal government, the complaint said.
Ramsundar allegedly got $92,000 from Mahadeo for properties and a government-seized Mercedes-Benz car and $108,000 from Ramcharran for properties, according to the DA. Neither man got any title to or ownership or possession of the properties or the car.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at timesledgernews@cnglocal.com or phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
