Lakireddy Bali Reddy

Lakireddy Bali Reddy
Born May 1937 (age 77)
Velvadum, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India
Residence California
Nationality United States
Occupation Landlord
Criminal penalty
 97 months in jail, $2 million in restitution, $8.9 million out of court settlement
Conviction(s) Immigration fraud, transportation of minors for illegal sexual activity

Lakireddy Bali Reddy (లకిరెడ్డి బాలిరెడ్డి ) is an American businessman and criminal. He is a Berkeley, California real estate mogul and overseas philanthropist who in 2001 was convicted of human trafficking, "conspiracy to commit immigration fraud," and filing a false tax return.

Early life and education

Reddy was born in 1937 in the village of Velvadam, in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India.[1][2] He completed his Bachelors in Science and Bachelors in Technology degrees from Osmania University in Hyderabad. He attended the University of California, Berkeley on a scholarship in 1960, graduating with a master's degree in chemical engineering.[3]

Career

Reddy worked for a private company, before becoming an entrepreneur in the real estate and restaurant industries.[3] He opened his first restaurant in 1975 and by 2000 he owned real estate assets valued at $69 million[2] and had income of $1 million per month from his 1,000 rental properties.[4]

Personal life

Criminal activities

On January 18, 2000, after the accidental death of a pregnant teenage girl in 1999, Reddy was arrested by federal prosecutors for "importing and employing illegal immigrants, and using the young girls as his concubines".[2] In March 2001, Reddy and "two of his relatives" pled guilty to the charges.[5] After a joint 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, Reddy was sentenced to eight years in prison and $2 million in restitution.[2][4][6] In 2004, the Reddy estate paid $8.9 million to survivors as a result of a civil suit.[7] Reddy was released April 2, 2008, and is a registered sex offender in the state of California.[8][9]

Lakireddy Bali Reddy was the subject of the book Slaves of Berkeley: The Shocking Story of Human Trafficking in the United States by Tim Huddleston.[10] According to Huddleston:

Lakireddy Bali Reddy was a noted successful businessman; he owned restaurants and real estate all over Northern California and made over $1,000,000 a month from his income properties. He also had a dirty little secret to his success...he forced Indian girls into slavery. All was going well for Lakireddy until a carbon monoxide leak led to the death of one of his underaged slaves. Surprisingly, it wasn't a police investigation that led to his arrest, but a story in a school newspaper. This is the story of the human trafficking ring that shook a nation and opened the door for reform in the United States.

— Tim Huddleston, Slaves of Berkeley: The Shocking Story of Human Trafficking in the United States

Reddy's crimes have also been cited in the books Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States,[7] Body Evidence: Intimate Violence against South Asian Women in America,[11] Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence,[12] New Slavery: A Reference Handbook,[13] Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade—and How We Can Fight It,[14] and Multicultural Jurisprudence: Comparative Perspectives on the Cultural Defense.[15]

His case reportedly inspired changes to California's human trafficking laws in 2005[4] and was part of Congressional testimony on the proposed Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007,[16] as well as the report of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force.[17]

Philanthropy

Lakireddy Bali Reddy is a philanthropist in the Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, India. He is the founder of the India-based nonprofit Lakireddy Bali Reddy Charitable Trust, which constructed a secondary school, and organizes weekly eye health clinics.[3] Reddy is the founder and chairman of Lakireddy Balireddy College of Engineering in the township of Mylavaram with over $3.5 million invested in the project.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Lakireddy Bali Reddy". Edupreneurs. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chabria, Anita (November 25, 2001). "His Own Private Berkeley". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Chairman Profile". Lakireddy Bali Reddy College of Engineering. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sundaram, Viji (Feb 16, 2012). "How an infamous Berkeley human trafficking case fueled reform". San Francisco Public Press. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Wayne, Leslie (April 29, 2001). "Workers, and Bosses, in a Visa Maze". New York Times. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "US Department of Justice press release" (Press release). San Francisco: US Department of Justice. June 21, 2001. Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States. Free the Slaves and Human Rights Center. 2004. ISBN 0-9760677-0-6.
  8. ↑ "Inmate Locator: Lakireddy Bali Reddy". Federal Bureau of Prisons. US Department of Justice. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "Lakireddy B Reddy". Home Facts. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Huddleston, Tim (2013). Slaves of Berkeley: The Shocking Story of Human Trafficking in the United States. Absolute Crime Books. ISBN 1484089901.
  11. ↑ Jesudasan, Sujatha (2007). "Local and Global Undivided: Translational Exploitation and Violence Against South Asian Women". In Dasgupta, Shamita Das. Body Evidence: Intimate Violence against South Asian Women in America. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. pp. 243–257. ISBN 978-0-8135-3982-9.
  12. ↑ Shekar, Nalini; Sharangpani, Mukta (2007). Ochoa, María; Ige, Barbara K., eds. Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence. Emeryville, California: Seal Press. pp. 101–109. ISBN 1-58005-229-0.
  13. ↑ Bales, Tim (2004). New Slavery: A Reference Handbook (2 ed.). ABC-CLIO. pp. 39–40. ISBN 1-85109-815-1.
  14. ↑ Batstone, David (2010). Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade—and How We Can Fight It (1st revised ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 1–3. ISBN 978-0-06-199883-6.
  15. ↑ Renteln, Alison Dundes (2009). "The Use and Abuse of the Cultural Defense". In Foblets, Marie Claire; Renteln, Alison Dundes. Multicultural Jurisprudence: Comparative Perspectives on the Cultural Defense. Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing. pp. 74–80. ISBN 978-1-84113-895-4.
  16. ↑ Hotaling, Norma (2008). "Creating An Immigration System That Works to Prevent the Sexual Abuse of Women and Children Focusing on the Offender". Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007: hearing before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, on H.R. 750. November 8, 2007, Volume 4. pp. 221–224.
  17. ↑ "Human Trafficking in California: Final Report of the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force". California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 17 October 2013.