By Justin Muszynski
Associate Professor of English Ravi Shankar had his court proceedings on pending fraud charges continued until Jan. 12 at last Friday’s hearing.
Shankar, who was arrested twice this semester on separate charges, plead not guilty to all four charges in relation to a fraud incident that occurred earlier this year.
Mark McLaughlin, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, says that Shankar was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this semester and will remain so until his legal issues have been settled.
“If his legal matters have been postponed then his leave will continue until such a time that they are resolved and at that point another decision would possibly come up for consideration,” said McLaughlin.
His charges include an attempt to commit larceny in the first degree, two counts of false statement in the second degree and a criminal attempt to tamper with or fabricate physical evidence.
McLaughlin believes that despite Shankar being on leave, his state medical benefits are, more than likely, still in effect.
He also says that the position that Shankar is in right now is no different than any time a professor is involved in a legal investigation.
“I would say that’s a standard policy that when someone gets into a situation like that, then they are placed on leave,” said McLaughlin.
According to the arrest warrant, Shankar purchased over $20,000 worth of tickets to a soccer game in New Jersey with his Discover credit card and then claimed the purchase was fraudulent. He claimed he only bought four tickets to the game, totaling $342.40. However, Shankar later admitted to police that he did purchase all the tickets that were charged to his card, but took a loss when trying to sell them.
The warrant says that he was attempting to make up for an investment in the stock market that saw a loss of $30,000. He also allegedly tried to erase two of his old hard drives in the IT lab, which may have held information vital to the case.
Shankar also faces separate motor vehicle charges in which, according to police, he struck a car in the rear and fled the scene. Those charges include illegally operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, evading responsibility, failure to drive in the proper lane and illegally operating a motor vehicle without minimum insurance.
He was scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court last Monday on the motor vehicle charges.
Jason Jones, president of the CCSU chapter of the CSU American Association of University Professors, wishes his colleague the best.
“At this point it’s premature to comment on what will happen to him,” said Jones. “The legal system needs to run its course and, hopefully, it will all be well for him and he will be able to come back.”