Long Island attorney found guilty in $300K adoption scheme Last Updated: 3:38 PM, November 1, 2010 Posted: 3:38 PM, November 1, 2010 MINEOLA, N.Y. — A New York attorney who advertised himself as an adoption expert has been convicted of stealing more than $300,000 from prospective parents for babies that did not exist. Kevin Cohen was convicted Monday in Nassau …
Category: Criminal Cases in Adoption
PEAR’s Response to “The Baby Business”
The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism asked a number of experts, practitioners, and advocates in international adoption to respond to “The Baby Business,” Democracy Journal, Summer 2010 by E. J. Graff. You may read all the responses . This is PEAR’s response: It is an unfortunate truth that international adoption is plagued by corruption. We appreciate E.J. Graff’s coverage of …
MEDIA: Missionary returns to Idaho after Haiti conviction
Missionary returns to Idaho after Haiti conviction By JESSIE L. BONNER, Associated Press Writer Jessie L. Bonner, Associated Press Writer – Tue May 18, 7:12 pm ET BOISE, Idaho – The leader of an American group detained while trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the January earthquake returned Tuesday to Idaho, deferring questions about her conviction for …
Attorney Susana Luarca Arrested in Guatemala
Susana Luarca, aka María de la Asunción Loarca Saracho, an attorney who assisted numerous intercountry adoptions from Guatemala was arrested yesterday in Guatemala and charged with trafficking, adoption abnormalities, and falsification of documents in connection with adoptions she handled for foreign families. The following article explains the charges and circumstances surrounding the arrest: TRIBUNALES: Se le acusa de trata de …
DOS Notice: Vietnam
Vietnam Adoption NoticeU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATEBureau of Consular AffairsOffice of Children’s Issues_______________________________________________ October 2009 Nearly all cases for which an official referral was issued before September 1, 2008, have now been processed to completion. The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and Vietnamese officials are assisting families whose cases are still pending. Questions about these cases may be sent to hanoiadoptions@state.gov. At …
DOS Responds to Questions re: Nam Dinh Adoptions
Below is the text of an email from the DOS responding to PEAR’s questions concerning notification of families and children involved in the adoption cases leading to the recent criminal convictions in Vietnam Dear Ms. Weeks, Thank you for your inquiry regarding the recent convictions of individuals involved in adoption fraud in Vietnam. You have raised some important questions. Below …
Vietnamese Officials Sentenced to Jail Time for Participation in Fraudulent Adoptions
The Irish Times is reporting that six health officials and health care workers in Nam Dinh province have been sentenced to jail for arranging over 300 fraudulent adoptions.http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0930/1224255526541.html Ethics, Transparency, Support~ What All Adoptions Deserve.http://www.pear-now.org/ People for Ethical Adoption Reform www.pear-now.org
MEDIA: Vietnam – Vietnamese doctors ‘sold’ babies for overseas adoptions
Sixteen Vietnamese doctors, nurses and officials sold 266 babies for overseas adoptions, a court heard on Tuesday. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/vietnam/6218586/Vietnamese-doctors-sold-babies-for-overseas-adoptions.html By Ian MacKinnon in BangkokPublished: 2:18PM BST 22 Sep 2009 The defendants from a number of clinics and social welfare centres in the northern province of Nam Dinh allegedly solicited the infants from unmarried mothers and impoverished families. To make the children …
Focus on Children Trust Fund
Excerpts from a Salt Lake Tribune ArticleDefendants in Samoan adoption case must pay $100,000 to trust fundA federal judge in Utah has ordered five operators and employees of the now-defunct Focus on Children adoption agency to contribute $100,000 to a trust fund that would allow Samoan children adopted by U.S. parents to connect with their birth families. U.S. District Judge …
Voices of the Victims of Focus on Children Utah’s Samoa Scam
PEAR is giving to voice to the victims of FOC Utah: below is the first statement, from Elizabeth Muenzler, Adoptive Mother of a trafficked child. Many thanks for your invitation to write a statement on your blog concerning the recent Focus on Children case. We are the parents of one of the children involved and after having been vilified in …