Landlord sex charges may grow
By Matthew Yi, and Anita Wadhwani
Jim Herron Zamora
Thursday, January 20, 2000
©2000 San Francisco Examiner

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/hotnews/stories/20/landlord.dtl





BERKELEY -- Police believe a prominent Berkeley landlord sexually molested more victims than the three young girls whom he allegedly smuggled into the United States from India.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, is accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to bring in illegal immigrants who often ended up working in harsh conditions for his businesses, which include managing about 1,000 apartment units, a restaurant and a construction company.

Police allege Reddy forced people to work long hours for little or no pay. In most cases, the victims were given only free room and board in his apartment units in return, said Capt. Bobby Miller.

"But the worst part of it all is that some of the women and including some minors, were sexually molested by Mr. (Reddy)," Miller said.

Authorities allege two of those victims were young sisters, 15 and 16, who suffered carbon monoxide poisoning Nov. 24 inside an apartment Reddy owned. The older sibling died, and her younger sister survived.

According to Reddy's arrest warrant affidavit, he had sexual relations with the girls in India and brought them into the United States to continue that relationship.

Court records indicate the girls' roommate was also brought to Berkeley for similar purposes.

At least two of the girls were bought by Reddy from their parents, according to the affidavit.

Tuesday, authorities said they believed there were many other similar victims.

"This could be the tip of the iceberg. We have no idea where this will end," Miller said. "We do believe there are more victims out there that we don't even know about. This case could be much, much larger than what the Berkeley Police Department can deal with. It could touch several cities, several counties, even other states."

Reddy was arrested Friday on federal charges of importing illegal immigrants for the purpose of prostitution and for other immoral purposes, and encouraging and inducing immigrants to illegally enter and live in the United States.

His attorney, Ted Cassman denied the charges Wednesday.

"Mr. Reddy is a long-standing, law-abiding citizen of Berkeley," Cassman said. "Everybody who knows him know that these charges are not true, and the allegations will be proven not true."

Cassman said he had visited Reddy in Alameda County's North County Jail in downtown Oakland Wednesday.

"He is in total shock and disbelief," Cassman said.

Reddy's next federal court hearing is set for Friday in Oakland.

Detectives started investigating the case shortly after the carbon monoxide poisoning, when they received anonymous letters indicating the identities of the girls and their purported parents were false.

After questioning by Berkeley police detectives and Immigration and Naturalization Service investigators, the surviving girl and a brother and sister falsely claiming to be her parents admitted their true identities.

"The investigation itself revealed that Mr. (Reddy) was instrumental in arranging for the entry of adults and children from India into the United States using false identities, fictitious jobs and fictitious family relationships and what have you," Miller said.

Authorities don't believe it was an isolated incident.

According to the affidavit, Reddy took advantage of a special INS visa program that allows skilled workers to live and work in the United States for a maximum of six years.

There were at least 21 visa applications filed on behalf of Active Tech Solutions, a software company owned by L. Vijay Kumar, a son of the suspect, the affidavit said.

The business has operated in Berkeley since November 1999 with five employees, according to the City of Berkeley's Finance Department.

Messages left by The Examiner at Active Tech were not returned.

Employers needing special skilled labor, such as high-tech workers, can apply for those visas, which are initially good for three years and can be renewed annually for three more years, said INS spokeswoman Eyleen Schmidt.

The United States granted a maximum of 65,000 such visas until 1998, when Congress passed the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act, which increased the cap.

Last year, there were 115,000 such visas. The same number will be granted this year and 107,500 next year before the cap is reduced to 65,000 in 2002.

Schmidt said an overwhelming number of the visas was granted to Indian nationals, about 40 percent in 1999. Next in line was China at about 10 percent.

"Traditionally, India has been the big user of the (skilled worker visa) program," Schmidt said. "The obvious answer is that there are a larger pool of Indian nationals who have engineering, math or science backgrounds."

However, authorities allege Reddy wasn't really offering high-tech jobs. Rather, many of them were left to do maintenance work on his properties or bus tables at Pasand Madras Indian Cuisine in downtown Berkeley.

"We are going to look at every aspect of (Reddy's) business," Miller said. "Our primary goal is looking for any other victims who have been abused by him or anyone else. But we will also closely look at his business for other violations as well."

Miller would not say whether there were any other suspects, but did not rule out that others might be arrested in the future.

For now, investigators will focus on contacting women or young girls who may have been victimized by Reddy.

"It's very important for us to get the word out into the community so that people who might be victimized and might be afraid do come forward," said Berkeley City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, who emigrated from her native India.

She has been acting as a liaison to the South Asian women's groups and as a cultural advisor to the police in their investigation.

Both Albuquerque and Miller said they had received some assurance from the INS that potential witnesses would not be subject to deportation.

"We believe that what (INS is) really interested in is going after the perpetrators of this exploitation, not after the innocent victims," Albuquerque said.

However, INS spokeswoman Sharon Rummery said the agency wouldn't be able to give a simple immunity or guarantees that the witnesses or victims would not be returned to India.

"We're not an incompassionate organization, but we do have to obey the law," Rummery said.

Typically in criminal cases involving illegal immigrants who are material witnesses, the INS would ask the federal court to let them post a low bond and even be granted a work permit during the investigation and trial.

However, once the case is finished, "their immigration status would have to be revisited," she said. "When it comes to immigration, it's an individual case."

The INS could help those individuals obtain permanent residency if they can legally immigrate to the United States. Otherwise, they would have to be either deported or repatriated, Rummery said.

If they are deported, they won't be able to legally enter the United States for at least five years. Repatriation means they would be simply sent back to their home country without any penalty.

One community activist said she was worried about the consequences of witnesses or victims speaking out.

"We are concerned that, if any of the victims come forward, federal authorities will deport them," said Hina Shah of the Asian Law Caucus. "What we are worried about is the possibility that girls who are sold by their family members may be deported to homes where they will suffer further persecution."

Still, though, Miller and Albuquerque said it was important that the witnesses and victims step forward.

"We have no power over the INS, but we will do everything in our power to see that any victim or witness who comes forward is helped, not hurt," Miller said.

Miller and Albuquerque said they would contact the INS office Thursday again to seek more assurances from the federal government.

Reddy's rise to real estate prominence in Berkeley is relatively recent.

A childhood friend said Reddy had arrived in Berkeley in 1960 to earn a master's degree in engineering at UC-Berkeley.

Reddy launched his first restaurant in 1975, before hitting the real estate market, said Jay Rao, who grew up with Reddy in their home village of Vijaywada in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

At a time when many landlords were selling off their property near UC-Berkeley because of the city's tough rent control laws, Reddy expanded his real estate empire.

By 1990, Reddy was one of the largest property owners in Berkeley. A decade later, he has more than doubled his holdings, concentrated in a densely populated area seven blocks south of UC-Berkeley campus and about six blocks west of the university.

However, Reddy has gained a reputation as a problem landlord.

Berkeley city records show his units have generated nearly four times as many complaints as any other landlord in Berkeley. Most of them were for not returning security deposits or for over-charging rent, city officials said.

"Our agency is constantly dealing with problems from his properties," said Tom Brougham, senior management analyst for the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board.

Despite his track record as a landlord, some who knew Reddy in the Berkeley business community or who worked with him said they were shocked by the criminal allegations.

"We were born and raised together, and I don't think he's that type of guy," said Rao, who worked for Reddy at Pasand from 1984 to 1989 as a waiter while attending Armstrong University in Oakland. "He's the kind of guy who helped people."

Rao, who now owns a restaurant in Milpitas, said Reddy's arrest might be the result of cultural misunderstandings.

"It is not a black or white issue," Rao said. "When we go to India, a lot of poor families approach us and ask for money. A lot of people want to get over to the (United) States. We give them money if we can, and sometimes we help their children come over here. (Reddy) probably gave money to the girls' father. but that doesn't mean he bought her. Buying is not the issue, it's helping poor people."

Any additional victims or witnesses of this case are asked to call Berkeley Police Department at (510) 644-6062. To contact someone who can speak Hindi, Telegu or another Indian language, call the following South Asian women's organization combating domestic violence: Maitri at (888) 862-4874.


Matthew Yi and Jim Herron Zamora are Examiner staff writers. Anita Wadhwani is a freelance writer in Berkeley. Jenny Strasburg of The Examiner staff also contributed to this report.

©2000 San Francisco Examiner