Oakland Tribune

Monoxide victim was sex slave, feds say
Owner of Berkeley apartment arrested

January 20, 2000

By Cecily Burt and William Brand
STAFF WRITERS

BERKELEY -- A prominent landlord, who had shared his apartment with a 17-year-old girl who died from carbon monoxide poisoning, has been arrested on charges of importing young girls into the United States for illegal sexual activity, authorities said Wednesday.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, owner of Pasand Restaurant and many other commercial and residential properties, was arrested Jan. 14 after an investigation by police and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Reddy previously told the Tribune he had lived in the apartment with the Nov. 24 carbon monoxide poisoning victim; her 15-year-old sister, who was also overcome by the odorless gas but survived; and a 20-year-old woman.

Girls brought over from India

They were all brought to this country from India to serve as Reddy's personal sex servants, federal investigators charge in an affidavit supporting the arrest warrant.

"These young women we know were victims of sexual molestation," said police Capt. Bobby Miller. "We don't know how far the case extends."

Police urged other victims to come forward without fear of prosecution for possible immigration violations.

Ted Cassman, Reddy's lawyer, said his client is a fine, upstanding, well-educated, law-abiding man who is very anxious to clear his name.

"We're confident that when all is said and done the charges will be (refuted)," Cassman said. "He came here in 1960, became a U.S. citizen; nobody has even made any allegations of any kind against him.

"He works with the police, his restaurant is a fine institution. There's no way he could be involved in anything like this." Cassman said.

Reddy is being held without bail and is to be arraigned Friday in federal court in Oakland. If convicted, Reddy, 62, could be sentenced to 15 years in a federal penitentiary and fined $500,000.

The carbon monoxide poisoning death of the 17-year-old, who was living under the false name of Sitha Vemireddy, touched off a wide-reaching investigation that is still far from over, Miller said.

Questions immediately popped up after the girl's death: Why were the two under-aged sisters, both recent immigrants, living with Reddy instead of their parents, who supposedly lived in another apartment a block away? What was the relationship between Reddy and the three girls? Was the poisoning a homicide?

Murder ruled out

Police ruled out murder. But they did forward to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service anonymous letters alleging that the girls' parents weren't really their parents, and that the girls were no more than indentured servants -- and that servitude included sex.

"There were many things that didn't add up. ... As a result, we continued to investigate," Miller said.

"There were too many incongruities," agreed City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, who worked as a cultural interpreter for the investigators. "Indian parents would not live in a different house than a 15-year-old girl."

The two-count complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oakland mirrors police concerns.

The first charge, which states that Reddy imported aliens for the purpose of prostitution or other immoral purposes, is supported in statements filed by the two surviving young women. They both said they worked for Reddy at his home in Andhra Pradesh state in southern India, and that he had had sex with all three of them.

Girl sold by family

The 20-year-old roommate told investigators that her father had sold her to Reddy because of economic hardship when she was only 14, and that she had regularly had sex with him.

She told investigators that Reddy arranged a fraudulent marriage with another man to get her into the United States. Once in Berkeley, she moved in with Reddy and never saw her "husband" again.

In August, the two sisters arrived in the United States with a couple posing as their parents. Reddy set them up in the apartment at 2020 Bancroft Way, where the 20-year-old girl was also living.

The federal affidavit alleges the 15-year-old told investigators Reddy had sex with her and her sister the same day they arrived in the United States.

She said she had been having sex with Reddy since she was 12 when her parents gave her to Reddy in India. The sexual relationship between Reddy and the three women continued here in the United States, she stated.

The second complaint alleges that Reddy obtained fraudulent skilled worker claims to aid Indian citizens, including the three young women, entry to this country.

The purported father, Venkateswara Vemireddy, told police he agreed to falsify his family status in exchange for a special occupation skilled-work visa. His sister, Lakshmi Garireddy, posed as his wife, Padma Vemireddy.

According to the affidavit, the work visas were obtained through Active Tech Solutions, an East Bay company owned by Reddy's son, Vijay Lakireddy.

"It's a sad situation, with distraught family members and the way they are being pushed around," the son said. "My father is a hard-working, honest fellow and these allegations are just ridiculous. It's shameful. My father has the full support of the family and tens of thousands of those overseas."

But not only do local investigators say they think Reddy should face charges, they believe the case could spread far beyond Berkeley city limits.

"We believe Mr. Reddy has victimized many other women," City Attorney Albuquerque said.

"That's why it's important to get the word out, so that other victims who might be afraid (to come forward) will know that the Berkeley Police and the federal government have taken the allegations seriously."

Albuquerque stressed that investigators are not interested in prosecuting Reddy's victims for possible immigration violations.

She asked victims or witnesses to call the Berkeley Police Department at 644-6062, or anonymously at 843-2677.

People who feel more comfortable speaking in Hindi, Telegu or another Indian language can call MAITRI at (888) 862-4874 or NARIKA at (800) 213-7308, both of which are South Asian women's organizations, or the Indo-American Community Service Center at (408) 748-1771.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a community organizer who specializes in caste and gender issues in the Bay Area Indian community, said people were aware of Reddy's reputation.

"He's infamous for his activities, not only for the fact that he was using these women, but how he treated his immigrant workers," Soundararajan said. "This was a really long time in coming."

She said in India, often impoverished families are forced to sell their daughters for use as sex partners to pay off overwhelming debts.

But Albuquerque said this type of criminal behavior is not typical of India. "That's like asking if racism is a common practice in the United States," Albuquerque said. "In India, like in other places, there are evil people who abuse children."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. Jacobs wouldn't say whether more arrests were forthcoming, but he did say the INS will continue to investigate all the allegations made by Reddy's victims up until his trial.

He said the investigation began in February 1998 when the INS received an anonymous letter about Reddy.

Residents of the Reddy apartment building, a half block east of Berkeley High School, were surprised about the arrest, but not exactly shocked.

"Since Mr. Reddy bought the building a year ago, there have been four or five young girls always coming in and out of that apartment," said Sean Tarham, who lives a few doors from the second floor apartment where the young girl died.

"The two girls who lived there were always working around the building," Tarham said. "I always thought they were very young to be working so hard."

He said he often saw them sweeping the entire basement parking structure by themselves. "They were very friendly and talked to my 2-year-old," he said.

"How do I feel about this? My feelings are indescribable. This is very sad."