WASHINGTON – An Indian-origin couple have been arrested for allegedlyrunning a high-end prostitution ring in the US by luring at least fiveactresses from Tollywood and advertising them for sex at Indian conferencesand cultural events across the country, according to a media report.

The prostitution scheme was masterminded by Kishan Modugumudi, 34, anIndian businessman who rose to become a player in the Tollywood movieindustry and co-produced several hit films, Chicago Tribune reported.

The ring charged clients up to USD 3,000 for each sexual encounter,according to a 42-page criminal complaint filed in US District Court inChicago.

Modugumudi and his wife Chandra, 31, also allegedly kept detailed ledgersof the sex acts performed by each girl, including where they occurred andhow much they collected, the report said.

While here on temporary visas, at least five actresses were sometimesforced to stay in a dingy, two-story apartment building in Chicago’sBelmont Cragin neighbourhood waiting for their next “date,” the chargesalleged. They also met clients in hotels at conferences in Dallas, NewJersey and Washington.

The complaint alleged that Modugumudi threatened the life of one of theactresses and her family if she told law enforcement the truth about whatshe did while in the country.

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.

Federal agents discovered the ledgers when they searched the Modugumudis’apartment in the 5700 block of West Belden Avenue in February, according tothe complaint.

Modugumudi and his wife have been in federal custody since agents arrestedthem in late April in suburban Washington, on a warrant, records show.

At a detention hearing last week in federal court in Chicago, the couple,dressed in jail clothes, listened to the proceedings through a Teluguinterpreter.

Attorney Molly Armour, who represents Modugumudi, told the judge she hadbeen trying to find a place for the couple to live so they could be freedon bail but that so far she had been unsuccessful.

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. Tollywood, the Telugu filmindustry, is one of the oldest and busiest in India.