By Dan Murphy
Several published media reports about the handling of the matter of Anand Singh, a former staffer at the Westchester County Board of Legislators who was caught in an online, underage sex sting, gives some insight into the timeline of events, who knew, and what if any action was taken.
But more questions remain, and many parents are worried about if Anand Singh was able to lure any underage girls into an illegal sexual relationship in Westchester, and in Yonkers, where he worked for two years.
The Yonkers Ledger, and now the NY Post had recent stories about Singh. The Yonkers Ledger reported that County Legislator Ben Boykin also knew about Singh and a video which showed him messaging, texting and sharing nude photos with someone he thought was a 14-year old girl.
Boykin and Legislator Colin Smith chaired the two BOL committees that Singh worked for. That is why Boykin was aware of the video, which was livestreamed in December. As of April 23, three legislator were aware of Singh and his perverted sexual interest before the december video was posted on YouTube April 11; Colin Smith, Ben Boykin and Board Chair Catherine Borgia.
Watch the video at this link –but beware-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kUNpG5HP4s
Last week, Legislator James Nolan called on Borgia to resign. Now a 2nd county legislator, Damon Maher, has called on Borgia to resign. “I think she should resign. That’s basically all I can say at this point, that I’m convinced the facts that have been delivered to me today and over the last few days, but especially today, I think she mishandled the situation,” Maher told the Post. Maher is the first democrat to call for Borgia’s resignation.
One of the facts that remains unanswered publicly is how did Singh get this position, which paid him more than $100,000 per year before his termination? Our sources at the county board say that Singh was recommended to Boykin and Smith to serve as their committee aide by an aide to Chair Borgia. We will withhold that persons name until it becomes public.
We have also been told that Chair Borgia, and her staff, control “all of the personnel decisions made by the Board,” and that Borgia “doesn’t normally share information freely with other board members. So it would not be out of the ordinary for her not to tell other board members about Singh.”
But, Borgia can prove that she contacted the Westchester County Police Department to investigate the Singh matter. What happend after that is anyone’s guess, and has not been made public.
Many are asking what if anything did the county police do after being notified by Borgia of the emails and phone calls that board members received from persons who watched the livestream in December.
Legislator Nolan has also called for the resignation of County Police Commissioner Terrance Raynor because of the Singh matter. Westchester County Executive spokesperson Catherine Cioffi called Nolan’s comments, “premature” and “innappropriate.”
But Nolan, in calling for Raynor’s resignation, points to the question that many are asking, “What Happened at the County Police?”
Some Westchester Democrats believe that Borgia should not be blamed because she referred the matter to the County Police. Others say that Borgia should have shared the Singh matter with the other members of the Board.
After the video was livestreamed in December, it was not posted on YouTube until April, leaving a 100 day gap in between. Perhaps that is why the County Police could not find the video, but they did have the emails warning the county board about Singh being a predator.
With the FBI and Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah investigating, we should know more information in the days to come.
Also, as of April 23, Singh has not been arrested or charged with a crime. In December, he traveled 2.5 hours to Newark, NJ, to meet the 14-year old girl, who was actually a decoy in her 20’s. He was confronted by OBL Global and quickly got back into his car and drove off.
Singh worked for former City Council President Mike Khader from 2019-21, but our sources tell us that “Khader and Singh hated each other. They didn’t get along at all.”
