Key West’s chief constructing official, Raj Ramsingh, and his brother, Ron Ramsingh, town lawyer who’s prone to resign or be fired at a metropolis fee assembly tomorrow, Thursday, April 24, had been re-indicted Wednesday night, April 23, on extra felony fees of official misconduct.
The most recent indictments observe final week’s fees of proof tampering associated to the deletion and alteration of textual content messages. Raj Ramsingh was positioned on paid administrative go away final week and is because of be arraigned Thursday, April 24 for the preliminary fees.
The metropolis fee met Monday, April 21 to contemplate whether or not to fireside lawyer Ron Ramsingh for trigger or with out trigger. These proceedings had been continued and are scheduled to recommence at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 24 at metropolis corridor. The most recent felony cost will possible impression town fee’s termination discussions.
Raj Ramsingh faces seven counts of official misconduct for allegedly falsifying constructing permits, whereas his brother, lawyer Ron Ramsingh, faces one depend of official misconduct for allegedly “interfering with the reporting of a felony dedicated by his brother,” the brand new indictment states.
The Ramsinghs have till tomorrow morning, Thursday, April 24, to show themselves in on the jail and publish bond. Ron Ramsingh’s bond is about at $25,000, and Raj Ramsingh’s bond is about at $175,000 — $25,000 for every of the seven counts. If convicted on the brand new fees the brothers might resist 5 years in jail, 5 years of probation and a high-quality of as much as $5,000. The Monroe County State Lawyer’s Workplace emphasised that an indictment is a proper accusation, and all people are presumed harmless until and till confirmed responsible in a court docket of legislation.
Metropolis Lawyer Ron Ramsingh
The grand jury on Wednesday, April 23, discovered that “Ron Ramsingh is alleged to have knowingly and deliberately interfered with the reporting of a felony dedicated by his brother, Rajindhar ‘Raj’ Ramsingh.
“The conduct is alleged to have occurred between June 1 and June 26, 2024, whereas Ronald Ramsingh was actively serving in his public function as metropolis lawyer,” the indictment reads partly, in keeping with the state lawyer’s workplace. “Ronald Ramsingh, a public servant, did knowingly and deliberately get hold of a profit for an additional, Rajindhar Ramsingh, by obstructing, delaying or stopping the communication of data associated to the fee of a felony…that straight concerned or affected the federal government entity served by Ronald Ramsingh opposite to Florida legislation,” the grand jury discovered.
“This extra indictment displays the deep seriousness of what we consider to be deliberate efforts to protect felony conduct from scrutiny,” mentioned State Lawyer Dennis Ward. “Public belief is constructed on transparency and honesty, and when officers impede the justice system to guard private relationships or pursuits, it erodes the very basis of native authorities.”
Constructing Official Raj Ramsingh
Raj Ramsingh faces seven felony counts of official misconduct for allegedly falsifying or altering constructing permits whereas working as town’s chief constructing official.
In accordance with the indictment, “Ramsingh, recognized as a public servant, knowingly and deliberately falsified, hid, coated up, or altered a number of official constructing allow data throughout a spread of properties within the Metropolis of Key West. The offenses, dedicated between 2021 and 2024, are alleged to have benefited Ramsingh personally; Strykker-Avery Houses LLC, an organization registered to Raj Ramsingh, and a number of other property house owners, together with himself. The allegations embrace conduct that prompted illegal hurt to the Metropolis of Key West and/or resulted in private or monetary achieve.”
The allegedly falsified or improperly issued constructing permits pertain to the next properties, one among which is owned by Raj Ramsingh: 98 Golf Membership Drive; 1309 United St.; 1020 White St.; 3528 Eagle Ave.; 534 Duval St.; 1101 Simonton St.; 2827 Harris Ave., which is Raj Ramsingh’s personal residence. The Keys Weekly is investigating the possession and histories of the properties listed within the indictment.
“This case displays the intense penalties of abusing a public place for private or monetary achieve,” Ward mentioned. “Our workplace will proceed to carry authorities officers accountable once they violate the general public’s belief and manipulate the techniques they’re sworn to uphold.
Constructing permits and different approvals issued by Raj Ramsingh had been the topic of a review that was commissioned by former metropolis supervisor Al Childress in October 2023. The ensuing 55-page report from the Corradino Group consultants was vital of Raj Ramsingh’s actions throughout the constructing division, which frequently authorised venture purposes with out first sending them to the planning division for assessment.
The Corradino Group famous the startingly low variety of growth purposes that had been despatched by the constructing division to the planning division for assessment and approval below Raj Ramsingh’s management of the constructing division.
The report discovered that the variety of planning division opinions dropped by 70% between 2021 and 2022 and dropped by 83% between 2021 and 2023, that means the constructing division was not together with the planning division when evaluating and approval purposes for brand new development, renovations and variances. “This 12 months, 2023-2024, the planning division is on tempo to obtain 141 allow opinions out of about 4,000 purposes — an 86% drop from 2021.
“Key West’s course of, in observe, locations the chief constructing official in command of the land growth laws. That is extremely uncommon,” the report states, including that planning division employees had accused the constructing division of permitting issues to be constructed that don’t conform to town’s growth laws.
Inside days of former metropolis supervisor Al Childress submitting a proper reprimand towards Raj Ramsingh in gentle of the Corradino report, a particular metropolis fee assembly was known as to fireside Childress. The preliminary indictments, filed Tuesday, April 15, towards Ron and Raj Ramsingh for proof tampering, pertained to Ron Ramsingh’s alleged behind-the-scenes effort to orchestrate, with former and present metropolis commissioners, the firing of Childress, which occurred in June 2024.