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Sadly, adoption fraud is back in the news again. Unlike many crimes, adoption scams seem to be committed mostly by women. Here are two stories of fraud that have been hitting the papers this week:
The first scam involves an Indiana woman, Victoria Farahan. Farahan is a Russian native who promised six couples she’d help them adopt Russian children.
Farahan told the couples she worked with an international agency and gave them photos of children she said were Russian and available for adoption. One of the photos was of her own child. The adoptions were never completed, even though the couples paid Farahan nearly $100,000.
She pled guilty to mail and wire fraud and could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Farahan was the interpreter for famed gymnast, Olga Korbut, in 1990 when Korbut visited Indianapolis.
In another adoption scam, this one taking place in South Africa, a woman pled guilty to the charge of “facilitating an illegal adoption.”
Hester Elizabeth van Schalkwyk befriended the mother of a six-week-old baby boy, stole the baby and sold the baby to them for R10 000, telling them the money was for legal fees.
She testified that the woman she stole the baby from “was destiture, and did not have the means to raise the baby.” She also said that the woman had agreed to the “adoption.”
Since Van Schalkwyk’s arrest in 2004, the couple has since legally adopted the baby.
Sources: South Bend Tribune
The Mercury
