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Silicon Valley landlord arrested in prostitution charges

R S Shankar

When 17-year-old Sitha Vemireddy died from a carbon monoxide leak during the Thanksgiving week, news reports talked about how a young immigrant's life was cut short. The reports also mentioned her parents who had migrated to America with their two daughters.

The second daughter, 15, was also in the apartment in Berkeley when the leak occurred; she was found unconscious but she was released from the hospital the next day. A third roommate was out on some errands when Sitha died. The parents of the Vemireddy girls lived in an apartment in the neighboring building which also belonged to the same landlord -- Lakireddy Bali Reddy. The father of the girl, who was reported in some newspapers to be a computer programmer worked in Pasand Madras Indian Cuisine, a popular Silicon Valley restaurant owned by Reddy and situated next door to his real estate office. Sitha and her sister also helped out in the restaurant. On Tuesday Reddy, who is in his 50s, was arrested and slapped with several serious charges. But the arrest did not have anything with the carbon monoxide leak. Officials in Berkeley said Reddy, who owns over 1000 apartment units and is a Silicon Valley millionaire, has been charged with importing immigrants from India for prostitution. He also had an elaborate scheme to bring in illegal immigrants from India. And he had sex with the three girls including Sitha Vemireddy and shared an apartment with them, according to the affidavit filed in an Oakland court. When reporters called Pasand Madras, they were told that Reddy did not own the restaurant. Venkateswara and Padma Vemireddy, the "parents" of Sitha had said in interviews with the ethnic newspapers soon after the death that Reddy had been good to them and helped them. The father had also said it was his karma that the girl had died. Court documents show that Padma Vemireddy is not the wife of Venkateswara Vemireddy, San Francisco Chronicle reported, adding the woman who claimed to be Vemireddy's wife is his sister, Lakshmi Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike McCloud said Reddy faces one count each of importing "aliens for the purpose of prostitution and for other immoral purposes," and encouraging and inducing immigrants to illegally "enter and reside in the United States,." According to the affidavit filed in an Oakland court, Reddy had an elaborate scheme to bring in illegal immigrants from India, including three girls with whom he allegedly had sexual relationships. News reports said police and Immigration Naturalization Service had begun checking on Reddy when they received anonymous reports about his alleged exploitation of workers brought from India at his restaurant and real estate business. Authorities received an anonymous letter accusing Reddy of filing fraudulent visas for temporary workers and their dependents, according San Franisco Chronicle. Then, earlier this month, the office received a call from the Berkeley Police Department about Sitha's carbon monoxide poisoning In December Berkeley police gave to INS officials another anonymous letter. "The anonymous letter ... claimed that Sitha and (her sister) were not the daughters of Padma and Venkateswara Vemireddy," according to an INS agent's affidavit. The letter also claimed the couple were not husband and wife, but "in fact they were brother and sister."

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