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Velugubanti
ROYAL OAK/SOUTHFIELD — A Royal Oak resident and neurologist, 47-year-old Gireesh Velugubanti, is being held in the Oakland County Jail on a $500,000 cash or surety bond after being accused of trading medical care for sex from a human trafficking victim.
Velugubanti was arraigned in Southfield, the location in which he worked, on June 27 before 46th District Court Magistrate Sharon Woodside. He is charged with human trafficking and conspiracy to deliver or manufacture a controlled substance less than 50 grams.
On June 26, Velugubanti was arrested in his Royal Oak home by members of the Oakland County Human Trafficking Task Force, according to an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office press release.
Velugubanti allegedly is a part of what the Sheriff’s Office called the Sonesta Suites trafficking ring, involving three other defendants who face trafficking charges.
Police said they found text messages between Velugubanti and one of the other defendants that show that Velugubanti was arranging commercial sex with trafficking victims as well as purchasing drugs.
The texts also depict that Velugubanti was unhappy with one of the trafficking victims, never wanted to see her again, and said she would no longer receive free health care, according to the press release.
The number of trafficked victims is not yet being released to the public, as it is an ongoing investigation, according to Sheriff’s Office public information officer Stephen Huber.
“It is difficult to conceive of a component of human trafficking that worsens the situation, but the fact that the alleged perpetrator we uncovered in this investigation is a doctor makes it even more disturbing,” Bouchard said in a prepared statement. “How can someone who has sworn the Hippocratic oath to ‘do no harm’ be involved in such absolutely violating and disgusting behavior? There needs to be a full reckoning for this at the bar of justice.”
The arrest of Velugubanti is the second one made by the Human Trafficking Task Force. The press release states that in March a Clinton Township man with five felony convictions on his record was charged with the human trafficking of a Saginaw woman.
A probable cause conference for Velugubanti was set for 8:30 a.m. July 10 in Southfield.
Velugubanti’s attorney, Mark Berke, could not be reached for comment by press time.
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