http://www.examiner.com/000422/0422landlord.html

3 sought in Berkeley landlord case
Cops want to question men as witnesses in the investigation of smuggling of teenage girls from India
By Matthew Yi
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal and local authorities investigating a wealthy Berkeley landlord charged with smuggling immigrants from India - including teenage girls - are looking for three men for questioning.
"They are not suspects. We're classifying them as witnesses," Berkeley police Lt. Bob Maloney said Friday. "I'm not going to comment beyond what has been written in the press release."

According to the news release, detectives believe the men have information that will help in the investigation of Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, who faces numerous federal charges including that he brought girls over from India for immoral purposes.

A carbon monoxide poisoning death of an Indian teenage girl last November prompted an investigation that has led to the arrest of Reddy, who owns more than 1,100 apartment units in the East Bay.

He is accused of having sex with the girl as well as her younger sister and their third roommate. An autopsy showed the dead girl was pregnant.

Reddy's son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, also faces federal charges of smuggling immigrants, along with Venkateswara Vemireddy, who is accused of posing as the father of the dead girl and her sister in order to bring them over from India, according to court papers.

Maloney said Reddy may also face state charges, but the case hasn't been turned over to the Alameda County district attorney's office because his detectives are still investigating numerous leads.

"I think it would be premature to speculate what kind of charges will be filed, but the type of activity that we're looking at is sexual abuse," Maloney said.

Berkeley police also released the sketches of the three men Friday, adding that the U.S. attorney's office and the Immigration and Naturalization Service were also interested in talking to the men.

INS spokeswoman Sharon Rummery refused comment, referring all questions to the U.S. attorney's office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Jacobs also refused comment, only acknowledging that federal investigators want to talk to them.

The first man has been described as white, in his 30s, 6-foot 1-inch, 190 pounds with blond hair and light colored eyes. He also may have a light mustache.

The second man has been described as possibly of Middle Eastern or Indian descent, 5-foot 10-inches, heavy build with dark eyes, pock-marked face and a scar next to his right eye. He may be a security guard or own a security guard uniform.

The third man might also be of Middle Eastern or Indian descent. He's in his 40s, 6-foot 1-inch, with black hair and some pock marks on his face.

People with information about any one of the three are asked to call Berkeley police at (510) 644-6062, ext. 2#.
New charge aimed at landlord
Matthew Yi
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
April 12, 2000
©2000 San Francisco Examiner

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/archive/2000/04/12/NEWS12808.dtl



Feds, Berkeley police have more than 9,000 pages gathered on sex,smuggling case

OAKLAND - A new federal indictment with additional charges is expected this summer against a prominent Berkeley landlord accused of smuggling teenage girls from India so he could have sex with them, a prosecutor said.

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 62, already faces a nine-count federal indictment on charges ranging from conspiracy to illegally bringing in immigrants from his home city of Velvadam in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

His son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, also faces similar immigration charges.

More charges are imminent, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kennedy said Tuesday in federal court in Oakland.

"The present indictment is a narrow charge . . . and we do have a continuing investigation . . . that'll come to a superseding indictment with expanded charges," Kennedy said.

He would not say what the additional charges would be, but added that his office already has gathered 9,000 pages of evidence and information in the case, which is also being investigated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Berkeley police.

Reddy was arrested in January, more than a month after two teenage Indian sisters were found unconscious in their one-bedroom Berkeley apartment due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

The older girl, identified at the time as Sitha, was pronounced dead at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley. Her younger sister survived and she is in protective custody.

The surviving girl told police that she and her sister were smuggled into the United States by Reddy. The girls had posed as daughters of a man who allegedly was paid by Reddy to bring them to the U.S. That man, Venkateswara Vemireddy, also has been indicted in federal court.

Pregnant at the time

Sitha's autopsy revealed that

she was pregnant at the time of her death.

Defense attorneys have denied accusations that the girl became pregnant by Reddy.

Both Penny Cooper, who was standing in for Reddy's attorney Ted Cassman during Tuesday's hearing, and George Cotsirilos, Lakireddy's attorney, said neither of their clients has given hair or blood samples for possible DNA testing.

Reddy, free on $10 million bail, and Lakireddy, free on $500,000 bail, were in federal court Tuesday morning as U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong considered pretrial motions filed by both the U.S. attorney and defense attorneys.

Cassman and Cotsirilos had filed a motion last month requesting some of the charges against their clients be dismissed because the indictment is too vague.

The attorneys also asked for a Bill of Particulars, which would require the federal prosecutors to identify all of the people that the defendants allegedly helped immigrate into the United States illegally.

Armstrong first denied the defense attorneys' motion to dismiss the charges, but was about to grant the Bill of Particulars request when Kennedy pointed out the current indictment will be replaced by another one.

Likely to resolve issues

The new indictment won't be ready until the investigation is completed, which will likely take at least two to three months more, he said.

"I think the superseding indictment will resolve some of these issues (brought by the defense)," Kennedy said.

Cooper and Cotsirilos requested their motions be withdrawn until they see the new indictment.

Armstrong ordered the next hearing for June 13.

The judge also considered two other issues in the case.

The prosecution had requested

the defendants provide voice and handwriting samples. Both Cassman and Cotsirilos earlier agreed to provide the samples and Armstrong on Tuesday simply gave her stamp of approval.

Authorities had charged that some of the fraudulent visa applications may have been filled out by the defendants, according to court papers.

Prosecutors also wanted the defendants' voice samples to compare them to a 911 call made from the sisters' apartment.

INS and Berkeley police investigators had earlier alleged that neither the defendants nor his associates attempted to call for help when they found the girls unconscious.


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