Texas Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Facilitate Adoptions From Uganda Through Bribery and Fraud UPDATED and Poland too
“A Texas woman who managed aspects of an international program at an Ohio-based adoption agency [EAC] pleaded guilty today for her role in a scheme to corruptly facilitate adoptions of Ugandan children through bribing Ugandan officials and defrauding U.S. adoptive parents and the U.S. Department of State.
Robin Longoria, 58, of Mansfield, Texas, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William H. Baughman, Jr. of the Northern District of Ohio to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), to commit wire fraud and to commit visa fraud. Sentencing will be before U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio.
“The defendant compromised protections for vulnerable Ugandan children and undermined the United States’ visa screening process,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s plea ensures that she is held accountable for the far-reaching consequences of her corrupt conduct.”
“This defendant has admitted to playing a part in a conspiracy in which judges and other court officials in Africa were paid bribes to corrupt the adoption process,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman of the Northern District of Ohio. “We are committed to pursuing justice for the adoptive parents and for all parties involved.”
“While adoptive families were financially and emotionally invested in the welfare of their future child, misrepresentations were made by Ms. Longoria and others to disguise bribe payments made to court officials in Uganda,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office. “We are pleased Ms. Longoria has accepted responsibility for her role in facilitating an international adoption scam.”
As part of her guilty plea, Longoria admitted, among other things, that she and her co-conspirators agreed to, and did, cause bribes disquised as fees to be paid to an Uganda Agent. Longoria knew that these fees would and were used by the to pay bribes to court registrars and Ugandan High Court judges to corruptly influence the court registrars to assign particular cases to “adoption-friendly” judges and to corruptly influence the judges to grant the U.S. clients of the adoption agency the authority to bring the Ugandan children to the United States for the purpose of adoption. Longoria also admitted that she and her co-conspirators agreed to, and did, conceal these bribes from the adoption agency’s U.S. clients. Further, Longoria admitted that she and her co-conspirators agreed to, and did, create false documents for submission to the U.S. State Department to mislead it in its adjudication of visa applications for the Ugandan children being considered for adoption.
If you believe you are a victim of this offense, please visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/victim-witness-program or call (888) 549-3945.
The FBI’s Cleveland Field Office is investigating the case. Trial Attorney Jason Manning of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice of the Northern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at
https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act. ”
[US Dept of Justice 8/29/19]
“A criminal information filed Aug. 12 and unsealed Thursday accuses Longoria and others at a Strongsville adoption agency of taking clients’ money and funnel it to bribes of public officials in Uganda. She also helped falsify documents sent to the U.S. State Department to help clients get their adoptive children U.S. visas, according to charging documents.
Court records do not name the agency, nor the owner. However, the FBI has been investigating European Adoption Consultants, a now-defunct agency that operated out of the Cleveland suburb, as well as its owner Margaret Cole.
The State Department said the agency operated adoption programs in Bulgaria, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Panama, Poland, Tanzania, Uganda and Ukraine. It barred European Adoption Consultants from conducting international adoption services for three years in December 2016, following an investigation. Federal agents raided the agency’s Alameda Drive offices in February 2017.
The State Department’s probe found the agency and its providers overseas committed several violations, including soliciting bribes and lying to officials to affect adoption eligibility, according to a report posted on its website. In some instances, the agencies’ decisions or actions led to children being harmed, the report said.
Cole, who lives in Ashtabula County, has not been criminally charged. Her attorney Roger Synenberg declined comment when reached Friday.
Longoria is set to be sentenced Jan. 8. U.S. Magistrate Judge William Baughman released her on a $20,000 unsecured bond.
Her attorney did not immediately return a phone call.
In 2012, he agency established a program to facilitate the adoption of Ugandan children by people in the U.S. Longoria’s job was to manage aspects of the agency’s program in Uganda.
In 2013, an attorney based in Kampala, Uganda entered into an agreement with the agency to provide adoption-related services. The agency directed clients in the Uganda program to hire her for adoption proceedings, the information states.
The attorney identified children for potential adoption, represented the agency’s clients in Ugandan court proceedings and helped clients when they applied to the U.S. State Department for visas for the children, the information says.
The agency and the attorney facilitated the adoption of more than 30 Ugandan children by U.S. clients between 2013 and 2016, and the agency received more than $800,000 from the clients. Some of those fees were described as “foreign program fees,” and clients in the Uganda program often paid more than $10,000 for them, prosecutors say.
Between 2013 and 2016, the attorney directed bribes to government officials in Uganda to influence them to facilitate adoptions. Probation officers, court registrars and adoption-friendly judges all received bribes to achieve favorable results, officials said.
The agent and her staff sent regular emails to Longoria and another agency manager requesting payment, sometimes for bribes. They were not explicitly described as bribes but rather “fees,” according to prosecutors.
Regardless, Longoria and the adoption agency wired money to the attorney knowing the money would be used, at least in part, for bribes.
The agency also hid from clients how their money was used. In one instance in September 2016, a client emailed Longoria and others asking for a breakdown of what the foreign program fees covered. Longoria responded by lying, writing that “[w]e do not have more detailed information,” according to the information
Longoria, the agency manager, the attorney and others also caused clients to provide false information to the State Department in order to obtain visas, according to prosecutors. That included submitting false documentation to the U.S. government.
Then-Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine sued European Adoption Consultants in June 2017, saying Cole and the agency took money from clients and did not follow through with the services it promised.
When the State Department barred the agency from international adoptions, it had 300 clients at various stages of the adoption process when it was barred by the State Department, according to the state’s lawsuit. European Adoption Consultants was to issue refunds and transfer its cases to other groups. However, Cole and the agency did not do so, even though they posted notices on the agency’s website that they would.
Cole, the agency and the Attorney General’s Office settled the lawsuit last month. The agency agreed to dissolve, pay $260,000 to reimburse clients. Cole agreed to be permanently barred from soliciting for a charitable in organization or incorporating a nonprofit in Ohio.
The company also agreed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines if they do not comply with the agreement.”
Employee of Strongsville adoption agency pleads guilty to helping bribe Ugandan officials
[Cleveland.com 8/30/19 by Eric Heisig]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: From Department of Justice, “Three Individuals Charged with Arranging Adoptions from Uganda and Poland Through Bribery and Fraud
Three women were charged in a 13-count indictment filed on Aug. 14 in the Northern District of Ohio for their alleged roles in schemes to corruptly and fraudulently procure adoptions of Ugandan and Polish children through bribing Ugandan officials and defrauding U.S. adoptive parents, U.S. authorities, and a Polish regulatory authority.
Margaret Cole, 73, of Strongsville, Ohio, Debra Parris, 68, of Lake Dallas, Texas, and Dorah Mirembe, 41, of Kampala, Uganda, were charged in the indictment. In relation to the Uganda scheme, Parris and Mirembe were each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and commit visa fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, three substantive FCPA counts and three substantive counts of money laundering. Parris was also charged with one count of mail fraud. In relation to the Poland scheme, Parris and Cole were each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Cole was further charged with one count of making a false statement to a U.S. accrediting entity and one count of making a false statement to a Polish authority.
“The defendants allegedly resorted to bribery and fraud to engage in an international criminal adoption scheme that took children from their home countries in Uganda and Poland without properly determining whether they were actually orphaned. The defendants sought to profit from their alleged criminal activity at the expense of families and vulnerable children,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These charges clearly show that the Department of Justice is committed to protecting children worldwide, including those involved in the international adoption process.”
“These defendants are accused of orchestrating an alleged scheme that bribed Ugandan officials, defrauded the United States and manipulated parents inside and outside of the country,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman of the Northern District of Ohio. “As a result of this alleged conduct, prospective parents were deceived, hundreds of thousands of dollars were misused and innocent children were displaced from their homes.”
“These three defendants preyed on the emotions of parents, those wanting the best for their child, and those wishing to give what they thought was an orphaned child a family to love,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith of the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office. “These defendants allegedly lied to both sides of the adoption process, and bribed Ugandan officials who were responsible for the welfare of children. Parents, prospective parents and children were emotionally vested and were heartbroken when they learned of the selfishness and greed in which these three engaged. The FBI will never cease in its efforts to protect the innocent and unwitting from those who prey on that trust and confidence and we will vigorously pursue and hold those responsible accountable.”
With respect to the Uganda scheme, the indictment alleges that Parris and Mirembe, together with others, engaged in a scheme to pay bribes to Ugandan officials to corruptly procure the adoption of Ugandan children by families in the United States, including the adoption of children who were not properly determined to be orphaned and who had to be ultimately returned to their birth parents.
Specifically, Parris, Mirembe, and their co-conspirators allegedly (1) paid bribes to social welfare officers in exchange for them issuing welfare reports recommending that certain children be placed into orphanages without first ensuring that the children were actually orphaned or that putting them up for adoption was in the children’s best interest; (2) paid bribes to Ugandan magistrate judges to obtain court orders placing those children in an orphanage that was willing to accept the children without inquiring into whether they were actually orphans; (3) paid bribes to court registrars to cause the court registrars to assign the cases of these children to two corrupt “adoption-friendly” judges; and (4) paid bribes to the corrupt Ugandan judges to obtain orders to permit their clients to bring the children to the United States for adoption.
Parris, Mirembe, and others also allegedly lied to, and concealed material information from, adoptive parents, including lying about the bribe payments and whether the children were properly determined to be eligible for adoption, and concealing other material information about the children’s history. The indictment also alleges that Parris, Mirembe, and others agreed to cause false documents to be submitted to the U.S. Department of State to hide the corrupt and fraudulent scheme and to mislead it in its adjudication of visa applications for the Ugandan children being considered for adoption. The co-conspirators and the entities they worked for received more than $900,000 in connection with these adoptions.
With respect to the Poland scheme, the indictment alleges that after clients of their adoption agency determined they could not care for one of the two Polish children they were set to adopt, Cole and Parris took steps to transfer the child to Parris’s relatives, who were not eligible for intercountry adoption and one of whom had a criminal arrest record. After the child was physically abused, Cole and Parris took steps to conceal their improper conduct from the entity responsible for accrediting U.S. intercountry adoption agencies—and from the Polish authority responsible for intercountry adoptions—in an attempt to continue profiting from these adoptions.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If you believe you are a victim of this offense, please visit https://www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/victim-witness-program or call (888) 549-3945.
The FBI’s Cleveland Field Office is investigating the case. Trial Attorneys Jason Manning and Alexander Kramer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chelsea Rice of the Northern District of Ohio are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted in the investigation.
The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.
The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice. Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.”
“A federal grand jury charged the former owner of an international adoption agency, accusing her and others of taking part in the fraudulent procuring of adoptions, according to an indictment unsealed Friday.
Margaret Cole, 73, of Strongsville was the longtime owner of European Adoption Consultants, whose business closed when the FBI raided its offices in 2017. She is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and making false statements to U.S. and Polish officials.
Her attorney, Roger Synenberg, declined to comment because he had not seen the charges.
Two others associated with the company, Debra Parris, 68, of Lake Dallas, Texas, and Dorah Mirembe, 41, of Kampala, Uganda, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Attorneys for Parris and Mirembe were not listed in court files.
Parris worked for the adoption agency, while the indictment said Mirembe “provided adoption-related services” to Cole’s agency.
Cole founded her business in 1991 after her 6-week-old daughter died from sudden-infant-death syndrome. She told The Plain Dealer in 1995 that she started the agency after others had denied her adoption attempts because she was more than 40 years old and already had children.
European Adoption Consultants operated in Bulgaria, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Panama, Poland, Tanzania, Uganda and Ukraine, according to federal officials.
The indictment accused the three women of taking part in two different schemes, one involving children from Poland and the other Uganda.
In the case involving Poland, the indictment said Cole and Parris worked to transfer a child in 2015 from Poland to Parris’ relatives, who were not eligible for inter-country adoptions.
The charges said a client had sought to adopt one child, but the child had a sibling, and there was pressure to take both children. Parris’ relatives took the second child.
The indictment said the child later had been injured with Parris’ relatives. The charges said Cole lied to authorities in Poland to keep profiting from the adoption of children there.
In the investigation in Uganda, the indictment said Parris and Mirembe paid bribes to judges and welfare officials to adopt children from 2013 to 2016. Many of the children whose adoptions were procured through bribes and fraud “were not properly determined to be orphans,” the indictment said.
One of the people who worked for the company, Robin Longoria of suburban Dallas, also admitted to paying bribes to Ugandan officials to gain adoptions, according to the charges.
She has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She is expected to learn her sentence in October.”
Owner of Strongsville agency, employees charged with conspiracy in foreign adoption cases
[Cleveland.com 8/14/2020 by John Caniglia]
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