BOSTON—A Boston District Court judge today dismissed the last and the 13th charge against Raman Raman, the former owner of well-known Boston jewelry chain Alpha Omega Jewelers. The first 12 counts were already dismissed on July 19.
“Mr. Handa is very pleased with the court’s decision today,” said Mr. Handa’s attorney Martin Weinberg through his associate Max Nemmtsev. “The court’s decision was compelling validation of Mr. Handa’s 6th Amendement right to a speedy trial.”
Handa had been charged with defrauding the company with $7 million dollars in missing or unaccounted for inventory. He remained free on a $1.2 million bond and with GPS location monitoring, and travel restricted to Massachusetts.
The government’s next move was immediately known but the government could appeal today’s decision by Boston District Court Judge Rya Zobel. Meanwhile, Mr. Handa’s attorneys confirmed that a status conference is scheduled on Wednesday to go over the condition of pre-trial release.
“Judge Zobel granted the defense’s motion to dismiss count 13 of the superseding indictment today. Following that, the defense attorney, Martin Weinberg, filed a motion to terminate conditions of pretrial release,” Liz McCarthy, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney’s Office – District of Massachusetts, told INDIA New England News.
Handa, 67, was arrested on Feb 21, at Los Angeles International Airport as he returned to the United States from India, where he had been living for almost 10 years. On Dec. 15, 2007, Handa and his family abruptly left the United States.
Poonam Ahluwalia, a local community activist and resident of Lexington, MA, said that the Indian community needs to celebrate this victory as a community and come together to embrace Handa.
“I am relieved that the judge had the wisdom to sift through all the allegations and come to the truth and exonerate Raman Handa. I always believed in his innocence,” Ahluwalia told INDIA New England NEws. “Since I met him, Raman has always been a stalwart of our Indian community – always doing what is in his power to help each and every one of us. That fact made it harder to witness how easily our community believed the worst about this accomplished, kind, and generous man. It has been over ten years since Raman has been under this cloud of accusations and aspersions on his character. We now need to celebrate this victory as a community and come together to embrace Raman.”
