WASHINGTON – A Sex racket run by Indian-origin couple in the USA shook theIndian Telugu film industry and new details about the victims and those whoparticipated on the mutual agreement are now coming out of the woodworks.On Monday, industry insiders revealed that the high-end prostitution ringcame into light four months ago when out-of-work actresses were looking toexchange US dollars worth Rs 14.
According to a report in Indian Expresslink>,names of two actresses are being discussed on the gossip vines. Becauseafter working in a few Telugu and Kannada movies they had fallen on hardtimes, but after a trip to the USA, they were looking to exchange largesums of US dollars.
Shivaji Raja, president of Movie Artists Association (MAA), told the daily,”When someone who has had no luck in the industry for a year or twosuddenly returns from the US and wants to convert a large sum of dollars,people start wondering about the source of the money. I remember the Rs 14lakh incident. Where did the money come from? Was she into real estatebusiness in the US? Did she get roles in films there?…. No. This involves afew actresses who have fallen on hard times as they are not getting work.”
MAA is holding a meeting on June 24 to discuss the issue and verify thecredentials of the organisers and associations that take actors for variousconferences and appearances the in United States, Dubai, Singapore orAustralia.
The prostitution scheme was masterminded by Kishan Modugumudi, 34, anIndian businessman who rose to become a player in the Telugu film industryand co-produced several hit films, Chicago Tribune reported.
The ring charged clients up to $3,000link>foreach sexual encounter, according to a 42-page criminal complaint filed inUS District Court in Chicago. Modugumudi and his wife Chandra, 31, alsoallegedly kept detailed ledgers of the sex acts performed by each girl,including where they occurred and how much they collected, the report said.
The couple was working in the Telugu film industry until four years ago.Modugumudi worked as an assistant to producer KS Rama Rao, says the reportby the daily. Actress and TV anchor Sri Reddy has allegedlink>thatthe couple has coordinators in Hyderabad.
A Hyderabad police official told the daily that they suspect the coupleprobably set up the network, identified the out-of-work actresses beforeleaving for the US. “They then started approaching these women in the guiseof cultural programmes and lured them into the sex racket. Some actresseshave said that they received calls from Kishan, inviting them to attendprogrammes in Chicago, but they declined since they were not sure about hiscredentials.”
Modugumudi and his wife have been in federal custody since agents arrestedthem in late April in suburban Washington, on a warrant, records show.
The report also revealed that Modugumudi threatend to harm the lives ofactresses and their families if they talked to the law enforcement aboutthe real purpose of the visit to the USA.
Modugumudi told the woman, identified in the charges only as Victim A, that”it would be nothing for him to harm her if she talked to the police abouthim because she is small and unknown, not a big actress,” the complaintalleged. “(He) further stated he had a copy of her passport with herfamily’s name and address in it,” the report added.
US Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ordered them to remain in custody for thetime being. The couple’s two school-age children, meanwhile, are in thecustody of child welfare officials in Virginia.