A Wisconsin woman has pled guilty to six felonies and two misdemeanors in an illegal adoption case. Bobbi Jo Dolski entered guilty pleas for felonious second-degree reckless endangerment, bail jumping, unauthorized placement for adoption, burglary-party to the crime, and two counts of delivery of a controlled substance.

"Dolski and her husband, Jason Dolski, were arrested in June after police said the couple illegally obtained an acquaintances child. Police found the child at the couples Stevens Point [WI] home in May during an investigation into illegal drug activity there. [Source: Wausau (MI) Daily Herald]

The couple agreed to illegally adopt Amanda Zblewskis newborn, whom Zblewski had already planned to place for adoption, the Daily Herald reported. Instead, she had Jason Dolski sign the birth certificate as the babys father, a move Zblewski told police she thought was legal.

Labels: laws, adoption fraud

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As concerns over international adoption processes continue to mount, a couple from Minnesota appears to be the latest victim of adoption fraud. According to an article in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, the couple adopted two children from India, who they were told were 11- and 12-years old.

Within months of their arrival, and before the adoption became final, Komal confessed: She was 21. Her younger sister, Shallu, admitted she was 15, not 11 as advertised.

The sisters said they were told to lie about their ages and backgrounds by orphanage officials and an India-based representative for Crossroads Adoption Services of Edina, which handled the failed placements.

At 21, Komal wasn't even eligible for adoption. Last year, the girls were deported for adoption fraud, and were sent back to India. The Minnesota couple is now suing Crossroads adoption agency for fraud and negligence.

Labels: adoption fraud

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New York lawyer Kevin Cohen has been indicted on charges that he stole more than $300,000 from couples who believed he could help them adopt. Vesselin Mitev reported on the case in the Oct. 29 edition of the New York Law Journal:

According to the indictment, which was unsealed [Oct. 28], Cohen had lied about "prospective adoptions which the defendant knew did not exist" and showed clients false documents, including fake sonograms. ...

Authorities have described the scam as an "adoption Ponzi scheme" because Cohen may have used funds from new clients to partially refund the fee of a client who had not obtained a baby.

Thirteen families, some from New York and others from Georgia, Texas and Ohio, gave money -- up to $65,000 in one case -- believing it would be held in escrow to pay for medical costs and expenses of the birth mothers, which in reality did not exist, [Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice] said.

Cohen's attorney, Matin Emouna, said in an interview that his client denies the charges. He added that Cohen was an adopted child himself, and had successfully placed five or six children with families through the nonprofit Adoption Annex he founded in 2004.

Labels: adoption fraud

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Indianas Supreme Court has ruled that child-welfare officials in New Jersey must review a four-year-old adoption case.

Stephen F. Melinger adopted twins in 2005 from a surrogate mother, but the Indiana high court is concerned about false statements given by Melingers attorney, Steven Litz.

During adoption proceedings, the high court found, Litz had told a Hamilton County, Ind., court Melinger lived in Indianapolis when in fact he had lived in Union City, N.J., for 10 years, according to an Oct. 2 United Press International (UPI) article.

The Supreme Court is allowing the twin girls, now 4-years-old, to stay with Melinger, while the case is reviewed, the UPI reported.

Labels: adoption fraud

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Some parents in China are making claims that their infant children (mostly daughters) were forcibly taken from them and placed for adoption with foreign families. The Boston Globe reports that the claims are fueling speculation about the legitimacy of some adoptions.

A Sept. 30 article on the Medical News Today reported the following:

The conventional wisdom is that the infants, mostly girls, were abandoned by their parents because of Chinas one-child policy and a cultural preference for boys, the Globe reports.

Although this is likely true for tens of thousands of the adoptions, some Chinese say that government officials took their children by coercion, fraud or kidnapping to collect money from orphanages.

The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs declined to comment on the allegations, Medical News Today reported.

Labels: international, adoption fraud

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A woman from Sioux Falls, South Dakota is accused of taking money from two different adoption agencies that found parents for her unborn child, then backing out of the adoptions. A Sept. 13 Associated Press article provided the following details:

• Documents filed in U.S. District Court say [Melisa] Bergstedt contacted About U Adoptions in Milbank in November and offered her unborn baby for adoption exclusively through that agency.
  
• A few days later, she made the same offer to An Act of Love adoption agency in Boston.
• According to court documents, Bergstedt received nearly $1,500 from the agencies; money that was supposed to be used for pregnancy expenses. She has been charged with mail fraud.

Labels: laws, adoption fraud

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