Daily Star (Bangladesh) February 4, 2000

Two indicted in US for importing sex slaves, workers from India

OAKLAND, California, Feb 3: A wealthy Indian landlord and his son have been indicted on charges they conspired to illegally bring young women from India to the San Francisco area to serve as cheap labour of sex slaves, their lawyers said Wednesday, reports AFP.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, and his 30-year-old son, Vijay Lakireddy, remained free on bail Wednesday and are to appear in Oakland federal court Monday to be arraigned on the charges listed in the indictment.


"Mr Reddy will appear in court Monday and plead not guilty," his attorney, Ted Cassman, told reporters after the indictment was returned.


Reddy and his son allegedly falsified visa applications to import young men and women from the Velvadam area of southern Indian.


Vijay Reddy operates a Berkeley company named Active Tech Solutions, and the immigrants were brought to California on the pretext that they were skilled workers needed by the company, according to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.


Berkeley police maintain that Active Tech was being used as a facade and that most of the Indian immigrants were put to work in low-paying jobs at Reddy's restaurants or rental properties.


Among the eight counts listed in the indictment issued by a federal grand jury Tuesday were charges Reddy transported minors for illegal sexual activity and imported and harboured aliens for immoral purposes.


Berkeley police reported Tuesday that they found a bottle of Viagra bearing Reddy's name in a Berkeley apartment he visited with two teenage Indian girls he is accused of having sex with.


The federal charges list yet-to-be identified conspirators and take the place of state criminal charges filed against Reddy and his son.


Conviction on all the charges would make Reddy eligible for a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison and one million dollars in fines. The charges against Lakireddy carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a 750,000-dollar fine.


Reddy owns a real estate business bearing his name, more than 1,000 apartment units, and two restaurants named Pasand. His assets are estimated Friday at more than 50 million dollars.


The case developed after Sitha Vemireddy, 17, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a Berkeley apartment owned by Reddy. Sitha Vemireddy and her 15-year-old sister were found unconscious in the apartment the day before Thanksgiving. Sitha died, but her sister recovered. The poisonings were ruled an accident caused by a blocked heater vent.


Sitha's sister told investigators that she was given to Reddy at age 12 by her parents and that their sexual relationship continued after she and her sibling came to the United States in August.