Falsified Building Permit Linked to City Commissioner’s Family
Lissette Carey’s brother-in-law owns the property at 3528 Eagle Avenue and was issued the permit in 2022, as Carey prepared to launch her campaign.
By Ted Lund
Carey, who thus far is the only person to be interviewed twice by the FBI and Monroe County State Attorney’s Office in a joint investigation into corruption at Key West City Hall — involving the CBO and City Attorney’s offices — claimed that she didn’t recall ever asking Ramsingh to intercede on behalf of one of her constituents.
Her district covers much of the New Town and Midtown sections of Key West, including the 3528 Eagle Avenue property.
However, the permit in question was issued in 2022, the year that Carey announced her candidacy. At the time, she was employed as the Assistant to the Director of the Key West Housing Authority. Previously she had been employed by the City Clerk’s and Mayor’s offices where she met the CBO, the City Attorney and indicted Code Enforment head Jim Young.
The tenor of the second interview changed dramatically, with Carey not recalling answers to investigators' follow-up questions. While her first interview with investigators totaled seven pages, her second interview was a page and a half long, with multiple “no knowledge of” responses. Her attorney, Benedict Kuehne, attended the follow-up via Zoom.
Ramsingh was indicted on Wednesday on seven felony counts relating to falsified permit records.
In addition to the Eagle Avenue property, the six others included:
Falsified permit records for Ramsingh’s residence at 2827 Harris Avenue (Permit #BLD2021-1399)
98 Golf Club Drive owned by Rodney and Amanda Manson (Permit #BLD2021-1543)
1309 United Street and 1020 White Street (Permits #BLD2021-3116 and #BLD2023-0619, respectively) owned by the Santiago Family Partnership
534 Duval Street is owned by 534 Duval Street, LLC (Permit #BLD2023-3375)
1101 Simonton Street owned by the Nordy and Tamara Redhead Family, LLC (Permit #BLD2022-2247)
Ramsingh and his brother were expected to turn themselves in by the end of the day, Thursday, April 24 to resolve bond issues set by Judge Mark Wilson. The CBOs bond was set at $125k, while the City Attorney’s bond increased by $25k.
Members of the City Commission are set to determine Ron Ramsingh’s fate at a special meeting tonight beginning at City Hall at 5 p.m. The City has said it will deal with Raj Ramsingh and Jim Young’s future following their arraignments today.
As a reminder, all suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers.