RICO suit against Little Pearls Adoption Agency May Proceed

Adoption Agency Can’t Toss Couples’ RICO Case [Courthouse News 2/27/12 by Marimer Matos] says “Couples trying to adopt children from Vietnam can pursue claims that an unlicensed adoption agency took deposits for adoptions it could not perform, a federal judge ruled.

In their March 2010 complaint, three couples and a would-be mom said the Little Pearls Adoptions Agency took their money with full knowledge that the adoptions would fail because the agency did not have a license.

Operating out of Tampa and South Pasadena, Fla., Little Pearls held itself out in ads “as being specialists in this area of adoptions of orphans from Vietnam,” according to the complaint.

Little Pearls Adoptions Agency collected $133,000 to “hold” children for its clients, then informed them it had a “license issue,” and refused to return the money.

In the federal racketeering complaint, the seven plaintiffs sued Debbie Fischer and Richard Feinberg, directors of Little Pearls when it was known as “An Angelic Choice.”

Fischer moved to dismiss, claiming the plaintiffs failed to list the individuals who are actually responsible for deceptive actions, Maily La Trace and Marie LaTrace.

“Defendant’s motion to dismiss lacks merit,” U.S. District Judge James Moody wrote. “Even if the La Traces were intimately involved in the alleged fraudulent scheme, it is well-recognized that joint tortfeasors need not all be named in one lawsuit.”

2010 and Previous Media

Seven Claim Adoption Agency Rolled Them [Courthouse News 3/24/10 by Marimer Matos] said “Couples trying to adopt children from Vietnam say the Little Pearls Adoptions Agency took $133,000 to “hold” children for them, then informed them it had a “license issue,” and refuses to return the money. In the federal RICO complaint, the seven plaintiffs sued Debbie Fischer and Richard Feinberg, directors of Little Pearls, which formerly was known as “An Angelic Choice.”

Little Pearls operates out of Tampa and South Pasadena, Fla., according to the complaint. The plaintiffs – three couples and a would-be mom – say the defendants took their money knowing that the adoptions couldn’t be completed since the agency was not licensed.

They claim Little Pearls collected $133,000 in deposits, and then them a letter informing them about the “license issue,” but claimed it would soon have a license.

Now the defendants refuse to return the deposits, according to the complaint.

The would-be parents claims Little Pearls “deceptively induced the plaintiffs into entering contracts to purchase adoptions services from them” and “encouraged [them] to send money immediately to ‘hold’ a child for adoption.”

Little Pearls held itself out in ads “as being specialists in this area of adoptions of orphans from Vietnam,” according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs seek punitive damages for fraud, breach of contract, and RICO violations.
They are represented by Sean Boynton.”

PoundPup files can be found here .

Justia has some documents available here.

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