The Indian Express (Bombay) February 4, 2000

Indian, son indicted in Berkeley sex scam
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE


OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 3: An Indian landlord and his son have been indicted on charges of conspiring to illegally bring young women from India to San Francisco to serve as cheap labor or sex slaves, their lawyers said on Wednesday.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, and his 30-year-old son Vijay Lakireddy, who are currently out on bail, have been told to appear in Oakland Federal Court on Monday to be arraigned on the charges listed in the indictment.

"Reddy will appear in court on 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 Velvadam in southern India. 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 afront 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, transporting minors for illegal sexual activity and importing and harboring aliens for immoral purposes are two of them.

Berkeley police reported on 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 7,50,000-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 on 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. A woman who lived in the apartment with the sisters has also told police she was 14 when she was sold to Reddy, who brought her to California. The roommate claimed she saw Reddy having sex with Sitha and her sister.

Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.