Michigan Mother Under Federal Investigation for Being an “Adoption Worker” UPDATED

“A Macomb County mother calls herself an adoption worker, but she does not work for a licensed adoption agency in the state of Michigan and she’s now under federal investigation.

Last month, 7 Action News showed you how FBI agents searched a home in New Haven, Michigan.

The 7 Investigators have now learned why: The woman under scrutiny by the feds is 37-year-old Tara Lynn Lee.

Online, Lee bills herself as an adoption worker. In reality, the companies she’s associated with are not licensed adoption agencies. And Lee has been in trouble with the law before.

Multiple sources close to the investigation have confirmed to the 7 Investigators that Lee is being investigated for promising the same baby to more than one potential adoptive family at a time.

“I’ve been told there’s an allegation she promised the same baby to more than one couple. Is that true,” Catallo asked Sanford Schulman, Tara Lee’s defense attorney.

“She denies that. I don’t know who the individuals are, what statements they made, what’s the timeline.  Again, the government is probably sorting that out, as are we. But to the extent that there’s any criminal complaint or information or indictment or civil case, there are none pending,” said Schulman

Schulman says his client has turned over documents, as well as bank records; and he says she is cooperating with the FBI probe.

“Was your client selling babies,” asked Catallo.

“No. No way,” said Schulman. “But she was taking money from prospective adoptive families, correct.

“She was facilitating adoptions and you can be compensated for that, and it was all – everybody was completely aware of everything.  There was no sneaking around, it was all documented, it was all, I think, legitimized by the paperwork,” said Schulman.

State records show, prior to 2016, Lee ran something called Always Hope Pregnancy Center LLC. Lee is also connected to the Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center Inc. in Jacksonville, Fla.

Lee is listed as a director on a non-profit called Always Hope Adoption and Family Services, Inc. in Sterling Heights, Mich. State officials tell us that organization and Lee are both now under investigation by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and neither is licensed to handle adoptions.

Police and court records show that Tara Lee has a history of check fraud and unpaid bills.

In 2005, Warren Police arrested her for fraud. With a plea deal, the charge was later dropped. But the charges were not dropped for a similar charge of non-sufficient funds out of Wayne County in 2005. She pleaded guilty in that case.

Natalie Musilli is on the Board of Directors for Saving Our Sisters, a non-profit dedicated to helping women keep their babies rather than give them up for life.

“Do you think someone who has a criminal history should be anywhere near this industry,” asked Catallo.

“The professionals that are working in it should be held to a very high standard. And have proper morals and ethics and have it be centered around the child,” said Musilli. “I know that if a woman who is vulnerable and looking into adoption for her unborn child, she should make sure that whoever she is talking with, communicating with, is licensed.”

As part of their normal protocol, FBI officials do not discuss ongoing investigations.

If you have any information about this adoption investigation, please contact Heather at hcatallo@wxyz.com”

Macomb County mother under investigation in FBI adoption probe

[WXYZ  12/4/18 by Heather Catallo]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A Michigan woman is charged with wire fraud following an investigation into claims that she conned hopeful adoptive parents out of tens of thousands of dollars in fees, but never produced any babies for them.

Tara Lynn Lee, 37, of New Haven, Michigan, was arraigned in federal court Friday on wire fraud charges after turning herself over to the FBI.

Authorities allege that Lee was running an unlicensed adoption service out of her home, collecting various fees from the adoptive parents after making ‘matches’ between them and fake pregnant women, then saying the adoption fell through and keeping large portions of the fees.

The criminal complaint, obtained by WXYZ, alleged that Lee collected about $10,000 to $33,000 in fees from the adoptive parents at the time of the supposed birth mother matches, ‘with additional payment due at the time of adoption.’

Lee then allegedly ‘fabricated matches’ between supposedly pregnant woman and adoptive parent hopefuls, even though the birth mother Lee talked about was ‘not truly pregnant, not interested in adoption, or fictitious,’ according to the complaint.

On other occasions, Lee was said to have told ‘two sets of adoptive parents that a birth mother has chosen them and collects payment from both.’

Lee had been under investigation for several months, with FBI agents raiding her home in November 2018.

The families Lee was said to have swindled through Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center — which is not a licensed adoption agency — came from all around the us, specifically Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado and Minnesota.

It’s thought that she could have conned as many as 80 families from 26 states.

Authorities said that during the alleged scam, Lee was known to text message photos of ultrasounds and supposed birth mothers to adoptive parents, as well as texting messages such as ‘Happy Father’s Day!!! She picked Y’all,’ according to the Detroit Free Press.

After collecting the thousands in fees, authorities said Lee would then feed the hopeful parents stories about how the often made up birth mothers changed their mind at the last minute or, in one case, told a couple that the birth mother had been fatally shot, before asking if they wanted to contribute to funeral payments.

When refunds were asked for, Lee was said to have kept a large portion of the payments to cover the birth mother’s counseling and other needs.

The lengthy criminal complaint stated that Lee claimed to be a licensed social worker with a master’s degree in social work from Northwestern University — neither of which were true — and then advertised adoption opportunities to her network of adoption agencies.

When the hopeful parents responded to the ad with information about herself, Lee then allegedly told the parents that they were picked and collected the $10,000 to $33,000 from them, while stating that more money was due when the adoption was completed.

Lee was said to have hooked the parents one of two ways, either in a ‘double match’ scheme — in which two families were matched with the same birth mother — or a ‘fabricated match’ scheme, in which there was no birth mother to begin with or the birth mother had no interest in putting her baby up for adoption.

Authorities detailed multiple specific examples of how adoptive families were allegedly conned by Lee in their complaint.

In one case, a Colorado couple was told that they needed to pay $19,000 to secure the adoption of a baby that would be available, which they did by making four separate payments to Lee over the phone. They were then told that they would need to pay more at a later date.

Three days after, Lee was said to have called a Minnesota mother to say that she had found a baby for them — the same baby that the Colorado couple had just sent money over for.

The Minnesota couple was said to have paid Lee’s $20,000 asking fee over the phone immediately

Over the course of several months, Lee sent both the Colorado and Minnesota couples text messages and talked with them over the phone, updating them about the birth mother. Neither couple ever spoke with the supposed birth mother.

Two days before the supposed baby’s birth, the Colorado couple drove to Michigan so that they could collect the baby, only for Lee to apparently tell them a few days later that the mother changed her mind and would be keeping the child.

Lee then told the Colorado couple that she had other adoption opportunities and informed them that a portion of the $19,000 they had paid would be rolled over to pay for a future adoption.

When they asked for their money back instead, Lee returned $9,000. The remaining $10,000, she allegedly kept, claiming that it was used to cover life coaching and mentoring of the birth mother, pre-birth counseling and transportation and the birth mother’s expenses.

At the same time, authorities said, Lee told the Minnesota couple that the birth mother delivered the child and decided to keep it, offering to roll over their $20,000 to a future adoption.

When none of the adoption possibilities panned out, the couple asked for a refund, which has not yet materialized, according to the FBI.

A Georgia couple, meanwhile, was involved in the fake fatally shot birth mother scenario.

In that situation, Lee supposedly informed the Georgia couple that birth mom ‘RaShaunda’ was due on June 20. But, on June 12, Lee told the couple that RaShaunda was killed and that the baby had died on the way to the hospital.

When Lee asked if the couple wanted to donate money to RaShaunda’s funeral fund, the couple said they grew suspicious and asked for a refund, threatening legal action.

Lee then gave them a check for $8,550.

Upon investigating, the FBI determined that there was no RaShaunda and that the Facebook photo belonging to the woman Lee allegedly claimed was the birth mother was a stranger, who had never been pregnant, didn’t know Lee and had never been shot.

One Ohio woman, Stacey Markley, was among the adoptive parents that Lee allegedly cheated, who is mentioned in the criminal complaint.

Markley told WXYZ that after they signed the adoption contract with Lee, she sent them a sonogram, but that the picture didn’t have any name attached to it to show that it was the birth mother’s child and that they never received proof of pregnancy from a doctor.

Lee’s lawyers told the news station that Lee was merely acting as an advocate for birth mothers and that her name isn’t present on any adoption legal paperwork.

Lee was bonded out of jail, but forced to turn over her passport because she was scheduled to fly to Africa the following week. She is also being prohibited from doing any work related to adoption, pregnancy or counseling and must stay away from hospitals and birthing centers.

The state of Michigan is expected to take Lee to court on Monday, to stop her from doing any adoption work since she is not licensed by the state to match families with babies.

Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center had been investigated by the state in 2015 and 2018. On both occasions, it was found that Lee was providing unlicensed adoption services.  ”
FBI busts woman who ran fake adoption services for YEARS and scammed desperate prospective parents out of tens of thousands of dollars

[Daily Mail 1/12/19 by Maxine Shen]