Bayside Torturer Gets 10 Years for Kidnapping Housekeeper

By David Brand

Queens Daily Eagle

A Bayside man was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping his housekeeper and torturing her. His wife received five years probation for her participation.

On Tuesday, Justice Robert Kohm handed down the sentences for Devanand Lachman, 35, and Ambar Lachman, 35, who kidnapped and abused their housekeeper after accusing her of stealing from their home.

“The victim in this case was brutalized by the male defendant, who struck her several times and held her against her will,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement. “The female defendant aided her husband in this heinous crime.”

In February 2015, the victim, 54, arrived at the Lachman home clean at about 8 a.m. At 1 p.m. that day, Lachman and another man entered the home on 217th Street carrying knives and a gun. They took the housekeeper’s phone and wallet and punched her several times after they accused her of taking cash and a gold chain from the home.

“The defendants suspected their housekeeper — who had been working for them for several months — had stolen from their home,” Brown said. “But the real crime in this case occurred when the defendants decided to take the law into their own hands by abducting the woman.”

Ambar Lachman returned to the home and watched the two men repeatedly punch victim and burn her feet with a welding blow torch. Ambar Lachman told the victim they knew she had stolen from them and said they would kill her if she did not turn up the money and jewelry.

The victim lied and said the money was at her house in Port Washington, CBSNews reported.

The Lachmans took the victim’s keys and entered her Long Island home to search for the items. She did not find them.

One of the victim’s friends noticed her injured face and called 911, CBSNews reported.