At the starting of the month that he was expected to go on trial, founder of EZjet Sonny Ramdeo threw in the towel and today pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a Florida Court and will be sentenced on January 13, 2014.
According to court documents, Ramdeo, who was further remanded to prison as he was on multiple occasions denied bail, pleaded guilty before US District Judge Kenneth A Marra while court appointed attorney Alan Diamond represented him.
The indictment against Ramdeo alleges that from September 2003 until October of last year, he wired money into his accounts that was to have been used to cover payroll taxes for Promise Healthcare and 11 of its hospitals, for which he was payroll manager. He allegedly formed two companies, PayServ Tax and EZjet GT, to receive the money, prosecutors said.
It stated that in 2011 and 2012, Ramdeo made two transfers to his account totalling US$363,700, which was to be used for payroll taxes at a hospital in East Los Angeles. In October, he allegedly diverted US$100,828 that was to cover payroll taxes for employees of a hospital in Gonzales, Louisiana.
Ramdeo faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of US$250,000 or greater on each count of conviction.
The airline went bankrupt amid the legal troubles caused for him when he was sued by his former employers in Florida courts.
The airline’s service was suspended by the US Department of Transportation in November, 2012.
