Former Health Employee Sanjai Syamaprasad Indicted for Secretly Recording Patients, Staff in Bathrooms

A former sleep center employee at Northwell Health has been indicted on charges of secretly videotaping hundreds of patients and staff members, including children, in bathrooms at Long Island medical facilities.

Sanjai Syamaprasad, 47, of Brooklyn, pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful surveillance and tampering with evidence after allegedly installing hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors in nine bathrooms at Northwell Health facilities between 2022 and 2024.

According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Syamaprasad purchased the surveillance equipment on August 2, 2022, and used it to secretly record staff and patients at the Northwell Sleep Disorders Center and Sports Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Rehabilitation Services of the North Shore (STARS) in Manhasset, NY.

The elaborate scheme involved attaching fake smoke detectors containing hidden cameras to bathroom walls using Velcro discs. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly told CBS News that the cameras were positioned “with views of showers and even directly over the toilets.”

“It’s disgusting, and it’s sickening. And he’s a medical professional, you know. He’s supposed to be a sleep therapist,” Donnelly said.

The illegal surveillance was discovered in April 2024 when a co-worker caught Syamaprasad watching bathroom videos on his laptop at work, according to NBC New York. Northwell Health immediately revoked his access and reported the matter to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office on April 23, 2024.

Realizing his actions had been discovered, Syamaprasad allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by breaking up the fake smoke detector and SD card and disposing of them in a trash can at a CVS pharmacy in Brooklyn. However, Nassau County police officers were able to recover the materials from a dumpster behind the pharmacy.

District Attorney Donnelly noted that while the defendant is currently charged in only five incidents, authorities are “reviewing thousands of images from his electronics to try to identify additional victims.”

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Syamaprasad’s Brooklyn home on April 25, 2024, seizing multiple electronic devices including phones, laptops, and an SD card reader. Investigators recovered video footage of five identifiable individuals, including a child.

Syamaprasad has been charged with five counts of unlawful surveillance in the second degree and two counts of tampering with physical evidence. If convicted, he faces between 18 months and 4 years in prison, according to HIPAA Journal.

District Attorney Donnelly noted that while the defendant is currently charged in only five incidents, authorities are “reviewing thousands of images from his electronics to try to identify additional victims.” Syamaprasad is also under investigation for similar crimes at a Weill Cornell sleep center in Manhattan, CBS News reported.

Delayed Notification Sparks Lawsuit

Despite the discovery in April 2024, patients and staff were not notified of the illegal recordings until May 2025 — a full year later. The delay has sparked outrage and legal action.

Brenda Pellettieri, a former employee and patient at the sleep center, told NBC New York she felt “stunned and betrayed” upon learning of the surveillance. “I just feel so disgusted that I was videotaped. It affected my life in ways that I can’t even tell you,” she said.

Pellettieri is now the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit filed against Northwell Health and Syamaprasad, alleging negligence on the part of the hospital system. Attorney Joel Rubenstein of German Rubenstein LLP told NBC New York they are “suing for the negligence of the hospital, the sleep center.”

Scale of the Breach

The scope of the privacy violation is extensive. According to HIPAA Journal, notification letters were sent to all patients who visited the affected facilities between August 2022 and April 2024. The data breach has been reported separately by three Northwell entities:

• North Shore University Hospital Sleep Disorders Center: 13,332 individuals
• Sports Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Services of the North Shore: 6,195 individuals
• NHPP Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: 1,353 individuals

Rubenstein estimated that approximately 13,000 letters were sent to potentially affected individuals, according to NBC New York.

The violation has left lasting emotional scars on those affected. Current sleep center employee Arlenny Linares told CBS News the situation was particularly disturbing given Syamaprasad’s patient population: “He does a lot of pediatric patients, so that literally, like, breaks my heart.”

Pellettieri described the psychological impact: “I feel sick. I mean, it was humiliating, embarrassing, terribly anxiety-inducing, just sick.” She added that victims “don’t know where all the videos are,” creating ongoing anxiety about the potential distribution of the recordings.

Northwell’s Response

Northwell Health issued a statement emphasizing their cooperation with law enforcement and commitment to patient safety. The health system stated: “Immediately upon learning of this former employee’s inappropriate conduct, we investigated and took immediate action to both remove him from the premises and report the matter to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.”

The organization noted that notification letters were delayed at the instruction of law enforcement to avoid jeopardizing the investigation. “Safeguarding the privacy of our patients and employees will always remain a high priority for us,” the statement concluded.

This case represents the second major voyeurism incident involving a healthcare facility reported in recent months. HIPAA Journal noted that a pharmacist formerly employed by the University of Maryland Medical Center is alleged to have conducted a decade-long spying campaign that included hacking staff members’ home security systems and Internet-enabled cameras in treatment rooms.