Lakireddy Bali Reddy | |
---|---|
Born |
Velvadum, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India |
May 20, 1937
Residence | Berkeley, California, U.S. |
Nationality | United States |
Occupation | Transnational crime figure, landlord, investor |
Criminal penalty | 97 months in jail, US$2 million in restitution |
Criminal status | Paroled |
Conviction(s) | Immigration fraud, transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity |
Lakireddy Bali Reddy (Telugu: లకిరెడ్డి బాలి రెడ్డి; born May 20, 1937) is a landlord, convicted felon, and chairman of the Lakireddy Balireddy College of Engineering. Reddy exploited the Indian caste system to bring young Indian women and girls to Berkeley, California. From 1986–1999, he and his family members and associates forced them into servitude and sexual slavery.
Reddy came to the United States in 1960 to study engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. By 1975, Reddy had opened a successful Indian cuisine restaurant in downtown Berkeley. He used its profits to purchase over 1,000 run-down apartment buildings, making him, by 2000, the largest and wealthiest landlord in the city (other than the University of California), with a worth estimated at US$69 million
In 2000, Reddy was indicted by the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California who charged him with sex trafficking, visa fraud, and tax code violations following a lengthy investigation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, and the Berkeley Police Department.