CSI fan Seemona Sumasar frames ex Jerry Ramrattan in elaborate revenge plot
CSI fan frames ex-lover in most elaborate revenge plot ever
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It sounds like the plot from the TV series CSI - a jilted ex-boyfriend builds a 'master plot' of fake crimes which he pins on his ex-girlfriend and gets her jailed for seven months.
But rather than being a work of fiction, this was the reality that happened to Seemona Sumasar.
Her ex-boyfriend Jerry Ramrattan, who was obsessed with the police drama, allegedly built a web of lies and deceit so convincing it fooled prosecutors and police into arresting her.
Framed? Seemona Sumasar attends a news conference in Mineola, New York on December 8, 2010
He persuaded two witnesses to lie, coaxed another to frame Ms Sumasar and covered his tracks so well he was never a suspect, it is said.
Whilst in jail her life fell apart - her restaurant went out of business and she was separated from her 12-year-old daughter.
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ShareAnd incredibly the plot only unravelled a few weeks before she was due to go on trial when an informant told police Ramrattan was behind the whole thing.
Ms Sumasar is now planning lawsuits against police in New York and Long Island over the case which has left seasoned investigators stunned at how easily they were manipulated.
Accused: Jerry Ramrattan allegedly built a 'master plot' of fake crimes to pin on his ex-girlfriend, resulting in a seven month jail term for the woman
'We prosecute tens of thousands of cases each year, but in the collective memory, no one has ever seen anything like this before,'
Queens district attorney said Richard Brown told the New York Times.
'Few people have the capacity to pull off a master plot of this magnitude to exact revenge.'
The extraordinary story dates back to 2006 when the couple met for the first time. Ramrattan introduced himself as a police detective, leaving Ms Sumasar, 36, impressed.
Alibi: Ms Sumasar holds up pictures taken on the night of the fake robbery, when she was in a Connecticut casino
Even though he had worked as an informant for law enforcement in the past, he was nothing of the sort.
They started dating and moved in together but the relationship became abusive and in 2009 she claimed he tied her up and raped her.
When she refused to drop the charge, it is alleged, he used his knowledge of police procedure gleaned from watching CSI and Law and Order to carry out one of the most elaborate framing operations in recent memory.
Defence: Ms Sumasar's lawyer, Anthony Grandinette
Cops said his scheme involved setting up three fake crimes and coaching victims so they recognised Ms Sumasar’s Grand Cherokee Jeep.
He also showed them a picture of her so they could pick her out in an ID parade.
For the first 'crime' Ramrattan is said to have persuaded an illegal immigrant from Trinidad to claim he had been handcuffed and robbed of
$700 by an Indian woman wielding a gun.
Police drama: A character is interrogated on hit crime series CSI: NY
In exchange he offered the man a special visa for victims of violent crimes, it is said.
Six months later 'crime' number two took place - in which another man was robbed. He was able to get the first three letters of the getaway car
- a Grand Cherokee Jeep with a licence plate matching Ms Sumasar’s.
CSI COPYCATS:
Since it started in 2000, CSI or Crime Scene Investigation, has earned plaudits for its realistic portrayal of police work.
It has also inspired a number of crimes in which criminals used lessons learned in the programmes to try and cover their tracks.
Other incidents investigated by police have also been inspired by the series.
In 2008 cops in rural New Mexico solved the death of a restaurant manager after they noticed similarities with an episode of CSI.
The death of Thomas Hickman initially looked like a murder after he was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
He also had tape covering his mouth, making investigators believe it was an execution.
Then they found some balloons caught on a cactus close by and a gun tied to ribbons hanging beneath.
In a 2003 episode of CSI a suicidal man tied a gun to helium balloons before shooting himself in the hope that it would float away.
It later emerged that Hickman, 55, had taken out a $400,000 life insurance policy - but his death was ruled a suicide so it did not pay out.
In May this year CSI addict Damien Fincher murdered his wife then tried to get away with it using techniques he learned from the show.
The 45-year-old stabbed estranged Gabrielle 21 times but neighbours heard her screams and called police to their home in Rugby in Warwickshire, England.
Fincher wore socks over his trainers to avoid leaving footprints or getting splashes of blood on his footwear, something he learned from the show, but he was later convicted anyway.
The third and final incident happened in May of last year and involved one of Ramrattan’s friends who claimed she had been held up by a couple pretending to be cops.
Police investigators found the nicknames the coupled supposedly used for each other could be linked to Ms Sumasar, as could the licence plate on the car.
Even though she had strong alibis for each of the 'crimes', she was identified as the prime suspect.
Last May she was pulled over by police and told by a detective: 'You know you did it'. Another officer later told her: 'Just admit it'.
Bail was set at $1million, a sum she could not afford.
From the moment she was arrested, however, she told investigators:
'Jerry is behind this' - but they did not believe her.
Last December, just weeks before she was due to go on trial, the case against her was dropped and she was released from jail.
She is now so paranoid Ramrattan will be released she regularly checks the release list on the website for Riker’s Island prison in New York, where he is being held.
She also always pays for things with a credit card so there is a paper trail of where she has been.
'From the beginning, I said he made it up. I never thought my life would become a cop film,' the former Morgan Stanley analyst told the New York Times.
'From the beginning I was presumed guilty - not innocent. I felt like I never had a chance.
'I can never have faith in justice in this country again.'
Ramrattan is currently in prison awaiting a trial date to be set on charges of rape and conspiracy, which he has denied.
But in a final twist his relatives have come up with their own theory as to what happened - Ms Sumasar framed him.
'My son is innocent, he was set up,' his mother Shirley Ramrattan said.
His lawyer Frank Kelly added: 'Everything about Ms Sumasar and her associates will come out'.
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