IAG: Four Employees Indicted for Allegedly Conspiring to Defraud the US with Adoption Services in Ethiopia UPDATED
From the US Department of Justice, http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/February/14-crm-149.html”
“Department of Justice
Four current and former employees of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption services provider, have been indicted by a grand jury in South Carolina for allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with IAG’s adoption services in Ethiopia. IAG is a South Carolina company that identified children in Ethiopia for adoption and arranged for their adoption by U.S.-based parents.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney William N. Nettles of the District of South Carolina and Assistant Secretary Gregory B. Starr of the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security made the announcement.
“The defendants are accused of obtaining adoption decrees and U.S. visas by submitting fraudulent adoption contracts signed by orphanages that never cared for or housed the children, thus undermining the very laws that are designed to protect the children and families involved,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman. “As today’s indictments show, the Justice Department, alongside its partners both here and abroad, will respond vigorously to these criminal schemes and will act to protect the many families and children who rely on the integrity of the adoption process.”
“The Bureau of Diplomatic Security uses its global presence to vigorously investigate any fraud related to the acquisition of U.S. visas,” said Assistant Secretary Starr. “The Department of State’s Bureaus of Consular Affairs and Diplomatic Security are firmly committed to working with the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and bring to justice people who victimize children and families by abusing inter-country adoption system and bribe officials to facilitate their actions.”
The international program director and coordinator for IAG, James Harding, 53, of Lawrenceville, Ga., was arrested today in Georgia. Alisa Bivens, 42, of Gastonia, N.C., who oversaw the Ethiopian operations from the United States, is scheduled to make an appearance at a later date in U.S. District Court in Charleston, S.C. The company’s executive director, Mary Mooney, 53, of Belmont, N.C., was apprehended in Belize by Belizean authorities and transported to the United States. Haile Mekonnen, age unknown, an Ethiopian national who ran IAG’s operations on the ground in Ethiopia, was also charged in the indictment.
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly engaged in a five-year conspiracy to violate laws relating to the adoption of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents. The scheme involved, among other things, paying orphanages to “sign off” on contracts of adoption with the adopting parents as if the children had been raised by those orphanages — even though the children had never resided in those orphanages and had not been cared for or raised there. These orphanages could not, therefore, properly offer these children up for adoption. In some instances, the children resided with a parent or relative.
As part of the charged conspiracy, the defendants then allegedly submitted or caused to be submitted these fraudulent contracts of adoption to Ethiopian courts in order to secure adoption decrees, and submitted or caused to be submitted the fraudulent contracts of adoption and the fraudulently procured adoption decrees to the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia in order to obtain U.S. visas for the children to travel to the United States to be with their new families. The indictment also charges that the defendants’ scheme involved paying bribes to an Ethiopian government official and agreeing to create counterfeit U.S. Customs and Immigration Service forms that were to be submitted to the Ethiopian government.
The charge of conspiring to defraud the United States carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the value gained or lost.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If you believe you have been a victim of this crime involving the named individuals or International Adoption Guides, please call 1-800-837-2655 and leave your contact information. If you have questions or concerns about adoptions from Ethiopia in general, please contact the Office of Children’s Issues at the Department of State through the email address AskCI@state.gov . If you have specific questions about an adoption from Ethiopia that IAG facilitated, you should contact the Office of Children’s Issues at the Department of State through the email address IAGadoptioncases@state.gov .
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The prosecution is being conducted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Schoen of the District of South Carolina and Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.”
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: DOS issues a notice. http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=ethiopia_24,pasted below:
“Notice: Indictments of Employees of International Adoption Guides, Inc.
The U.S. Department of State is aware of the indictment of employees of International Adoption Guides, Inc. We understand many current and former clients of the agency, which currently has an active program only in Ethiopia, may have questions and concerns about how this affects the processing of their adoptions. We ask that families send their questions to the Office of Children’s Issues through the email address: IAGadoptioncases@state.gov.
The Office of Children’s Issues will post any additional information that we receive on adoption.state.gov, and will arrange periodic calls with affected families. At this time, we have no indication that this issue will affect adoptions facilitated by any other U.S. adoption service provider operating in Ethiopia. Any questions related to adoptions from Ethiopia in general should be directed to AskCI@state.gov.”
Update 2: IAG’s indictment IAG+indictment(1)-1
Update 3: Ethiopia Notice issued by DOS See http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=ethiopia_25 and is pasted below:
“Notice: MOWCYA Decision on U.S. ASPs approved to work with former IAG cases in Ethiopia
Following the February 11 arrest and indictment in the U.S. of several employees of the U.S. adoption service provider (ASP), International Adoption Guides, Inc., (IAG) Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA), has placed a hold on the processing of adoptions by families working with this ASP pending its investigation. On March 31, MOWCYA agreed to allow these families to move forward with the assistance of a MOWCYA approved U.S. ASP that is licensed to operate in Ethiopia.
On March 31, the Office of Children’s Issues sent a notice via email to all U.S. adoption service providers requesting expression of interest to pass to MOWCYA for their consideration for approval to take on IAG clients. The Minister of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs provided her response via official letter on April 7.
America World Adoption Associates and International Adoption Net have been selected by the Minister to be approved to take on former IAG clients that are in the following four stages of the adoption process:
- Families that submitted a dossier to IAG but had not received a referral
- Families that had received a referral through IAG
- Families in the PAIR process with referrals from IAG
- Families in the pre-PAIR process with adoptions facilitated by IAG that are currently in the U.S. immigration process.
Additionally, the Minister indicated families in the post-adoption process must work with either of the two approved U.S. adoption service providers to submit the required post-adoption reports.
Questions regarding this information can be directed to Office of Children’s Issues at IAGadoptioncases@state.gov.”
Article
“Two local women are accused of fraud in their work with an international adoption agency that connected Ethiopian children to American families.
Mary Mooney of Belmont and Alisa Bivens of Gastonia are among four people charged with conspiring to defraud the United States.
Also facing charges are James Harding of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Haile Mekonnen of Ethiopia. All but Mekonnen have pleaded not guilty in federal court in Charleston, S.C. Mekonnen has not yet been arraigned. The four worked for International Adoption Guides Inc., an adoption agency registered in North and South Carolina. Each was indicted by a federal grand jury in South Carolina in mid-February.
Mooney, 53, served as the group’s executive director. Bivens, 42, oversaw Ethiopian operations from the U.S.
Harding, 53, was the program director, and Mekonnen ran programs in Ethiopia.
The defendants are accused of obtaining adoption decrees and U.S. visas for children by submitting fraudulent adoption contracts. The contracts were signed by orphanages that never cared for or housed the children, according to the Justice Department.
In some instances, the children lived with parents or relatives instead of in orphanages, according to charges.
The foursome is accused of presenting fraudulent adoption contracts to the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia to get visas for children to travel to the U.S. to be with their new families. The conspiracy allegedly spanned five years and included bribing an Ethiopian government official to create counterfeit documents for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
Mooney is from Belmont but was living in Belize at the time of her arrest. Once indictments were handed down, she was picked up by Belizean police and brought back to the United States. Mooney was assigned the highest bond of all three, $150,000.
Harding was given a $35,000 bond. Bivens was released on an unsecured bond. She is not considered a flight risk or a danger to the community, according to a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice. In the wake of the indictments, the U.S. Department of Immigration put out a notice to families in the midst of adoptions with IAG. The notice said that connection to the business would not stop a pending adoption from going through, but that cases would need to be reviewed.
A hotline was set up for possible victims of the scam. That number is still active, and the outcome of court proceedings will be added to the outgoing message as they happen, according to the recording.
International Adoption Guides provided home studies and adoption services, according to the N.C. Secretary of State website. The business’ voicemail now says home studies with no mention of adoption services. It is not clear what the company means by “home studies.”
The International Adoption Guides website says the page is in “maintenance mode.” The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and cases will be prosecuted by U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Carolina.”
Gaston pair accused in international adoption scam[Gaston Gazette 4/30/14 by Diane Turbyfill]
Update 4: From The US Department of Justice http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/August/14-crm-829.html
“Manager of Adoption Agency Pleads Guilty to Ethiopian Adoption Fraud Scheme
A former foreign program director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud the United States by paying bribes to foreign officials and submitting fraudulent documents to the State Department for adoptions from Ethiopia.Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney William N. Nettles for the District of South Carolina made the announcement. The guilty plea was entered by U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina.Alisa Bivens, 42, admitted as part of her plea that she and her co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to the State Department to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents from 2006 until 2009. In support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, Bivens and others submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage.In entering her guilty plea, Bivens also admitted that she and others paid bribes to two Ethiopian officials so that those officials would help with the fraudulent adoptions. The first of these two foreign officials, an audiologist and teacher at a government school, accepted money and other valuables in exchange for providing non-public medical information and social history information for potential adoptees to the conspirators. The second foreign official, the head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs, received money and all-expenses-paid travel in exchange for approving IAG’s applications for intercountry adoptions and for ignoring IAG’s failure to maintain a properly licensed adoption facility. Sentencing for Bivens will be scheduled at a later date.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen for the District of South Carolina”
Update 5:From http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-international-program-director-adoption-agency-pleads-guilty-ethiopian-adoption-fraud:
“Former International Program Director of Adoption Agency Pleads Guilty to Ethiopian Adoption Fraud Scheme
The former International Program Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty today to conspiring with others to defraud the United States by submitting fraudulent documents to the State Department for adoptions from Ethiopia and paying bribes to foreign officials.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.
James Harding, 55, of Atlanta, Georgia, admitted as part of his guilty plea that, between 2008 and 2009, he and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent documents to the State Department to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents. Harding admitted that, in support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, he and others submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage.
In entering his guilty plea, Harding also admitted that he and others paid bribes to two Ethiopian officials so that those officials would help with the fraudulent adoptions. Specifically, Harding admitted that an audiologist and teacher at a government school was given money and other valuables in exchange for non-public medical information and social history information for potential adoptees. Additionally, Harding and his co-conspirators provided cash and all-expense paid travel to the head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs in exchange for his approval of IAG’s applications for intercountry adoptions and ignoring IAG’s failure to maintain a properly licensed adoption facility.
Harding pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina, and a sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.”
Update 6: From http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-executive-director-adoption-agency-pleads-guilty-submitting-false-information:
“Former Executive Director of Adoption Agency Pleads Guilty to Submitting False Information to Accreditation Agency
The former Executive Director of International Adoption Guides Inc. (IAG), an adoption agency, pleaded guilty yesterday to making false and fraudulent statements to the Council on Accreditation with respect to IAG’s accreditation.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles of the District of South Carolina made the announcement.
Mary Mooney, 57, of Belmont, North Carolina, admitted as part of her guilty plea that she made false statements to the Council on Accreditation (COA), which granted IAG accreditation to provide adoption services in certain countries. IAG marketed itself as a COA-accredited adoption services provider and numerous clients relied on IAG’s accreditation to confirm that IAG’s adoption services were ethical and in compliance with U.S. and foreign law. Mooney admitted that in support of IAG’s application for accreditation she made several false representations, including: falsely stating that IAG was in substantial compliance with the relevant regulations; intentionally failing to list her co-defendant, Alisa Bivens, as one of IAG’s employees providing adoption services; and intentionally failing to disclose that James Harding, another co-defendant, was the functional director and head of the company. All of these false and fraudulent statements were material to COA’s decision to accredit IAG to conduct intercountry adoptions for purposes of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions. Without that accreditation, IAG would not have been legally permitted to facilitate intercountry adoptions from any country that was a party to that convention and numerous families would have never retained IAG to provide adoption services.
Mooney is the third defendant to plead guilty as a result of this investigation. Mooney pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Sol Blatt Jr. of the District of South Carolina. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
This ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The department appreciates the assistance of the Office of Children’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John W. Borchert of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina.”
Update 7: From http://lightofdaystories.com/2015/06/04/mary-mooney-of-international-adoption-guides-has-changed-her-plea/, on June 4, 2015 , “Mary Mooney, the former executive director of International Adoption Guides (IAG) indicted by the Justice Department for fraud and corruption in Ethiopian adoptions and who pled guilty in January, has recently asked the judge to change her plea from guilty to innocent.”In the comments section, August 6, 2015 says “We have received notice that the Court denied Mooney’s motion to change her Plea. Sentencing hearings for Harding, Bivens and Mooney should be held within 60 to 90 days.”
Update 8:
From DOS: “Notice: IAG Employees Sentenced for Adoption Fraud Schemes
On August 14, 2017, the Department of Justice released a statement about the sentencing of three individuals from International Adoption Guides (IAG). For more information, please see the official Department of Justice Press Release: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/founder-ceo-and-employee-international-adoption-guides-iag-sentenced-adoption-fraud[which says: Founder, CEO, and Employee of International Adoption Guides (IAG) Sentenced for Adoption Fraud Schemes
Columbia, South Carolina—- United States Attorney Beth Drake stated today that Mary Mooney, age 58, of Mooresville, North Carolina; James Harding, age 57, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; and Alisa Bivens, age 36, of Gastonia, North Carolina were sentenced last week in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina. Mooney was sentenced for Accreditation Fraud regarding adoption conducted in Kazakhstan, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 14944, and Harding and Bivens were sentenced for conspiring to defraud the United States in connection with adoptions conducted in Ethiopia, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.
United States District Judge David C. Norton of Charleston sentenced Mary Mooney to 18 months incarceration, 3 years of supervised release, and $223,946.04 of restitution to victims who adopted children from Kazakhstan. James Harding was sentenced to 12 months incarceration, 3 years supervised release, and $301,224.25 of restitution. Alisa Bivens, was sentenced to one year probation, and $31,800 restitution to two victims listed in the Indictment with whom she had direct contact.
Evidence presented at James Harding and Alisa Bivens guilty pleas and sentencings established that they and Mary Mooney on behalf of IAG submitted fraudulent documents to the U.S. Department of State to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents from 2006 until 2009. In support of U.S. visa applications for the Ethiopian children, they submitted false documentation, including contracts of adoption signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption because, for example, the child in question was never cared for or never resided at the orphanage. Harding and Bivens admitted to a scheme conducted with Mooney to pay bribes to two Ethiopian officials, a teacher at a government school, and a head of a regional ministry for women’s and children’s affairs, to facilitate the fraudulent adoptions. Both Harding and Bivens pled guilty and cooperated, providing substantial assistance to the Government.
Evidence presented at Mooney’s hearings established that she made false statements to the Council on Accreditation (COA), which granted IAG accreditation to provide adoption services. IAG marketed itself as a COA-accredited adoption services provider and numerous clients relied on IAG’s accreditation to confirm IAG’s adoption services were ethical and in compliance with the law. Mooney admitted in support of IAG’s application for accreditation she made several false representations, including: falsely stating that IAG was in substantial compliance with the relevant regulations; intentionally failing to list her co-defendant, Alisa Bivens, as one of IAG’s employees providing adoption services; and intentionally failing to disclose that James Harding, another co-defendant, was the functional director and head of the company. All of these false and fraudulent statements were material to COA’s decision to accredit IAG to conduct intercountry adoptions.
“The defendants undermined the laws and regulations designed to ensure the integrity of the inter-country adoption process. The Diplomatic Security Service conducted an excellent investigation to uncover the scheme to profit from fraudulently securing the adoption of children, some of the most vulnerable victims in society,” stated United States Attorney Beth Drake.
“This sentencing makes a strong statement to those who would attempt to exploit the most vulnerable among us. The Diplomatic Security Service is dedicated to ensuring those who commit these crimes are brought to justice,” said Christian J. Schurman, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Programs at the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). “Our global presence allows DSS to work with both U.S. and foreign law enforcement to stop those who would profit from illicit schemes like fraudulent adoption.”
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the District of South Carolina and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Derek Ettinger handled the sentencings in this case.”]
From here:”[Addressing] adoption fraud was a top priority for the Consular section in Addis Ababa,” recalled Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Special Agent Jamel Love.
That’s what led Love to investigate International Adoption Guides, Inc. (IAG), a South Carolina company that arranged for the adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. citizens, for suspicion of adoption fraud. DSS’ pursuit of the case led to the take down of a major international adoption company and four employees sentenced for their part in the adoption fraud scheme.
Love arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2011. As the embassy’s assistant regional security officer-investigator (ARSO-I), he was there to investigate passport and visa fraud, and assist in cases of crimes affecting U.S. citizens. ARSO-Is work closely with the Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs officers who are responsible for adjudicating passport applications and other documents for U.S. citizens and foreign nationals. At Embassy Addis Ababa, the Consular section focused heavily on adoption fraud, so Love immediately delved into the massive collection of complaints about adoption agencies operating in Ethiopia.
“I noticed the more egregious and specific adoption fraud allegations were against IAG,” recalls Love.
Love brought his findings to the embassy’s Consular Section Chief Scott Riedmann, who agreed allegations against IAG should be explored further.
“Even before I went out to post, I was told that there were concerns about international adoptions in Ethiopia,” said Riedmann. “It was clear to me after arriving in Addis that some of the agencies were engaging in unethical and fraudulent activities.”
Love interviewed several purported victims of IAG’s scheme and verified the stories of Ethiopian children adopted via IAG’s services. He contacted his investigative colleagues at DSS’ headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, to help dig further into the case and brought the South Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office on board. Given the volume of complaints against IAG, a few U.S.-based DSS analysts traveled to Addis Ababa to help with the interviews.
In addition to the interviews and checking law enforcement databases, the investigative team found several concerning stories online.
“A lot of blogs, websites, and discussion forums had detailed information about IAG’s operation,” said Love. “These actors were very well known throughout the large and vocal international adoption community and there was a wealth of information publicly available that let us know we were on the right track.”
The adoption scheme depended on document fraud and bribes. IAG employees would submit doctored paperwork, including falsified visa applications and contracts, to the U.S. government to facilitate adoptions of Ethiopian children by U.S. parents. According to a Department of Justice press release, adoption contracts were signed by orphanages that could not properly give the children up for adoption for various reasons. Two IAG employees admitted to bribing two Ethiopian officials to facilitate the scheme.
During federal court hearings, the IAG executive director also admitted to making false statements to the Council on Accreditation (COA), the entity responsible for accrediting U.S.-based adoption agencies according to relevant laws and regulations.
On the diplomatic side, Riedmann led a multi-pronged approach to address the situation while DSS investigated. He worked with interagency partners and Ethiopian authorities to develop and implement a better orphan determination process. He also directed and enhanced communications with current and potential adopting parents in the United States, and created a public outreach program targeting rural Ethiopians to inform them about international adoptions.
For Riedmann, the case is an excellent example of how Department of State entities can combine diplomacy with law enforcement to combat crimes that affect both the United States and a host country.
“This case really highlights the excellent cooperation between Consular Affairs and DSS, and the effectiveness of the ARSO-I program,” said Riedmann.
While the IAG case is a sad example of misconduct in the adoption process, Riedmann stressed that intercountry adoptions can benefit both orphans and prospective parents. “Most of the stakeholders involved in international adoptions do excellent work finding homes for children who need them,” stressed Riedmann. “The department seeks to ensure that intercountry adoptions involving children or U.S. parents take place in the best interests of the child. Taking action against entities like IAG eliminates bad actors helps to protect all those involved in intercountry adoptions.”
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