O'FALLON, Mo. — A man, accused in a human trafficking case in St. Charles County, and his wife were indicted in federal court last Wednesday on charges he stole money from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, according to court documents.
Venkatesh Sattaru and his wife, Nitya Sattaru, are charged with 46 counts of theft of government funds and one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds after collecting tens of thousands of dollars in VA benefits.
The couple pleaded not guilty.
Nitya Sattaru claimed she was caring for her husband who was unable to perform tasks such as dressing himself, preparing meals and shopping for around four years.
Nitya collected between $1,400 to $4,725 each month as Venkatesh's caregiver, according to the indictment.
According to court documents, Venkatesh served in the U.S. Army from Oct. 15, 2013, to Nov. 21, 2014.
Last year, Venkatesh and two other men—Nikhil Penmatsa and Sravan Penumetcha—were charged in St. Charles County with trafficking for slavery, kidnapping and abuse. They each faced multiple other charges. The trio was accused of keeping a 20-year-old college student from India captive for months.
The victim came to America on a student visa to attend Missouri S&T but instead was forced to perform daily chores, work for an IT company owned by Venkatesh Sattaru, perform massages and was only allowed to sleep for three hours each day on a concrete floor while being watched on a live stream, according to charging documents.
The three men were in court Wednesday morning for arraignments and detention hearings.
All three waived their right to the detention hearings. Penmatsa and Penumetcha pleaded not guilty before a federal judge.
Dianna Collins, assistant U.S. attorney and human trafficking coordinator, said after the hearing that, "Defendants can waive a detention hearing for various reasons."
"Specifically in this case, it was because the pre-trial services office had already recommended that they be detained and each individual has a detainer already with St. Charles County so if we let them go, they’d be held by St. Charles County," Collins said.
The victim told investigators that Venkatesh was a wealthy and powerful man in India.
Venkatesh Sattaru, Penmatsa and Penumetcha also face a federal charge of forced labor in the indictment made public last week. Additionally, Venkatesh Sattaru is charged with trafficking concerning forced labor.