A former employee of the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center in Lake Success was indicted on charges for allegedly filming patients in the center’s bathrooms using a hidden camera, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
Sanjai Syamaprasad, 47, of Brooklyn, was arrested on April 25, 2024, and indicted on grand jury charges of five counts of unlawful surveillance and two counts of tampering with evidence on April 16. Both are felonies. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison.
He pleaded not guilty and was released without bail.
“The allegations against this defendant are sickening and disturbing,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “…We all expect professionals working in medical care to respect and value patient privacy. When they do not, and their actions are criminal, my office will pursue prosecution.”
Syamaprasad allegedly installed cameras falsely appearing as smoke detectors in multiple public and staff bathrooms at the Sleep Disorder Center in Manhasset and the STARS Rehabilitation center in the same building. According to the DA, the hidden cameras recorded individuals at least between July 2023 and April 2024.
Donnelly said “hundreds” of videos were taken during this time, recording patients, including children, while using the bathrooms. The DA’s office said at least five individuals, including one child, were identified in footage they screened.
Syamaprasad allegedly watched some of these recordings while at work, Donnelly said. She added that he also allegedly removed the cameras at the end of his shifts to download on an SD card.
Northwell Health reported the issue to the Nassau District Attorney’s Office in April 2024, according to the DA.
In an April 25, 2024 investigation, the DA’s office executed a search warrant of Syamaprasad’s home where three laptops, multiple other electronics and an SD card were recovered as evidence.
The DA’s office said Syamaprasad allegedly destroyed evidence of these recordings, breaking and disposing of the memory card on which the recordings were stored in the trash can of a Brooklyn CVS.
A Nassau County detective recovered the smoke detector camera in the CVS dumpster
Syamaprasad is due back in court on June 12.
