An Indian-origin couple based in Chicago has been accused of running a high-end prostitution racket for which they allegedly lured actresses from the Telugu film industry to the United States, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago that was unsealed recently, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The couple would advertise these women for sex at Indian conferences and cultural events throughout the United States, according to the complaint. The plan was allegedly the brainchild of Kishan Modugumudi, 34, a businessman who climbed up the ladder to become an influential player in Tollywood (the Telugu film industry), and co-produced many hit films. Modugumudi’s wife, Chandra, 31, has also been accused of keeping ledgers of the sex acts of each girl.
The couple has been in federal custody after agents arrested them in April, as per the report. During a detention hearing last week in federal court in Chicago, Modugumudi’ attorney, Molly Armour told the judge that she was trying to look for a place where the couple could stay, so they could be out on bail, but she was unsuccessful.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez has ordered them to remain in custody for now. The couple has two school-going children who are in the custody of child welfare officials in Virginia, according to the report.
The details in the ledger included details such as venues where the alleged sex acts occurred and the amount that was collected by the girls. These ledgers were discovered by federal agents while they searched the Modugumudis’ apartment in the West Belden Avenue in February this year, the complaint stated. The agents also found over 70 condoms segregated into several Ziplock bags.
Clients were allegedly charged up to $3,000 for each sexual encounter, according to the 42-page criminal complaint. At least five actresses, who were on temporary visas in the United States, were often forced to stay in a dirty, two-story apartment building in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood in Chicago.
The charges alleged that the actresses would wait for their next date, and met clients at conferences in hotels in places like Dallas, New Jersey and Washington.
According to the complaint, Modugumudi allegedly threatened to harm one of the actresses and her family if she said anything about what she was doing in the United States to the law enforcement authorities. “It would be nothing for him to harm her if she talked to the police about him because she is small and unknown, not a big actress. He further stated he had a copy of her passport with her family’s name and address in it,” the complaint states, Chicago Tribune reported.