The Samoan government has launched an inquiry into an international agency
that arranges adoptions of village children to Americans.
A One News investigation has found the children are not orphans or abandoned.
Instead they come from big families.
Auckland has become a staging post for American parents picking up Samoan
children. Last year the American consulate in Auckland issued visas for 61
Samoan children.
That figure is expected to grow and that has prompted a Samoan government
investigation.
In addition some parents claim they did not know they were signing their
children away forever. They say they had no idea that adoption meant permanent
seperation from their children.
For remaining article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/441912
Showing posts with label Samoa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samoa. Show all posts
Death prompts Samoan adoption change
Samoa has rushed through legislation to tighten up on foreign adoptions
following the death of a child who had been in the care of an American
agency.
Last year a One News investigation revealed Samoan parents had put their children up for adoption with the organisation Focus On Children, not realising they would never see them again. Parents thought the children would stay in America only for their education and that the adoption was not permanent.
Now the agency is once again in the spotlight - this time in the midst of a police investigation.
Avea Sioka was struggling to bring up six children when the family placed baby Heta and three of her siblings with Focus On Children.
For remaining article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/594334
Last year a One News investigation revealed Samoan parents had put their children up for adoption with the organisation Focus On Children, not realising they would never see them again. Parents thought the children would stay in America only for their education and that the adoption was not permanent.
Now the agency is once again in the spotlight - this time in the midst of a police investigation.
Avea Sioka was struggling to bring up six children when the family placed baby Heta and three of her siblings with Focus On Children.
For remaining article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/content/594334
Arrests over Samoa adoption scam
The owners of an American adoption agency have been charged with running a baby-smuggling operation out of Samoa.
An investigation by ONE News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver first highlighted the alleged scam which US officials have called "shocking and appalling".
Seven people involved with the Utah-based agency are accused of deceiving parents in Samoa into signing away their children.
US investigators allege that as well as being mistreated in a nanny or halfway house, Samoan birth parents were deceived into thinking they would get their children back when they were older.
US officials allege the agency targeted Samoan children for adoption by observing the market or other places where women gathered.
Local agent Dan Wakefield is one of those charged. He told ONE News it wasn't his fault if Samoan parents misunderstood.
Behind the tale of alleged fraud, selling children and money laundering are the families.The parents only intention was to give their children a good future that they could not afford to give themselves.
For remaining article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/423466/1013675
An investigation by ONE News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver first highlighted the alleged scam which US officials have called "shocking and appalling".
Seven people involved with the Utah-based agency are accused of deceiving parents in Samoa into signing away their children.
US investigators allege that as well as being mistreated in a nanny or halfway house, Samoan birth parents were deceived into thinking they would get their children back when they were older.
US officials allege the agency targeted Samoan children for adoption by observing the market or other places where women gathered.
Local agent Dan Wakefield is one of those charged. He told ONE News it wasn't his fault if Samoan parents misunderstood.
Behind the tale of alleged fraud, selling children and money laundering are the families.The parents only intention was to give their children a good future that they could not afford to give themselves.
For remaining article:
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/423466/1013675
No Winners in Samoan Adoption Scandal
Last updated 00:00 18/10/2008
Each November a family in the Samoan village of Faleasiu remembers the birthday of little Posi Iva, the six-year-old boy taken from them, and sold to an unwitting American family.
They are not alone in their grief.
At least 37 children from Samoa have allegedly been sold to Americans in an adoption scam that has led to heartache in both countries.
"We really want to see Posi, I miss my grandson," says 71-year-old Fatu Fuiono, who looks after his grandchildren while their parents work on their farm.
Looking at the sparse surroundings I can't imagine Posi's birthday is celebrated lavishly.
Posi is just one child taken from poor Samoan families and legally adopted by families in the US, who paid up to $US13,000 ($NZ21,500) to the now-defunct Focus on Children agency.
Couples who took more than two children were given a group discount, and paid only $US10,000 ($NZ16,500) for each child.
Children from newborns to teenagers were caught up in the alleged scam.
Authorities in the US have indicted seven people associated with Focus on Children on fraud charges connected to 37 of the adoptions between March 2002 and June 2005.
The accused could face up to 80 years' prison, and fines of up to $US2.25 million ($NZ3.7 million) if found guilty.
They are also facing charges including alien smuggling, visa fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
But the harshest penalties in the world aren't going to bring Posi back to his biological family....
click here for remaining article
Each November a family in the Samoan village of Faleasiu remembers the birthday of little Posi Iva, the six-year-old boy taken from them, and sold to an unwitting American family.
They are not alone in their grief.
At least 37 children from Samoa have allegedly been sold to Americans in an adoption scam that has led to heartache in both countries.
"We really want to see Posi, I miss my grandson," says 71-year-old Fatu Fuiono, who looks after his grandchildren while their parents work on their farm.
Looking at the sparse surroundings I can't imagine Posi's birthday is celebrated lavishly.
Posi is just one child taken from poor Samoan families and legally adopted by families in the US, who paid up to $US13,000 ($NZ21,500) to the now-defunct Focus on Children agency.
Couples who took more than two children were given a group discount, and paid only $US10,000 ($NZ16,500) for each child.
Children from newborns to teenagers were caught up in the alleged scam.
Authorities in the US have indicted seven people associated with Focus on Children on fraud charges connected to 37 of the adoptions between March 2002 and June 2005.
The accused could face up to 80 years' prison, and fines of up to $US2.25 million ($NZ3.7 million) if found guilty.
They are also facing charges including alien smuggling, visa fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
But the harshest penalties in the world aren't going to bring Posi back to his biological family....
click here for remaining article
Samoa police probe adoption terms
Radio New Zealand International
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Samoa police probe adoption terms
Posted at 04:42 on 23 March, 2007 UTC
Police in Samoa are interviewing families of babies adopted by the US-based adoption agency, Focus on Children, to determine if the birth parents were misled by its representatives.
The Assistant Police Commissioner, Papali’i Lio Ta’eu Masepa’u, has told Le Samoa Newspaper that the adoption process is legal and is not part of their investigation.
Their probe is to determine if the birth parents were led to believe that they will be able to see their children again when they turn eighteen....
for remaining article
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Accessibility Information
My RNZI
Go to Site Menu
Samoa police probe adoption terms
Posted at 04:42 on 23 March, 2007 UTC
Police in Samoa are interviewing families of babies adopted by the US-based adoption agency, Focus on Children, to determine if the birth parents were misled by its representatives.
The Assistant Police Commissioner, Papali’i Lio Ta’eu Masepa’u, has told Le Samoa Newspaper that the adoption process is legal and is not part of their investigation.
Their probe is to determine if the birth parents were led to believe that they will be able to see their children again when they turn eighteen....
for remaining article
Long trial looms likely in alleged adoption scheme
Long trial looms likely in alleged adoption scheme
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 04/03/2007 01:26:25 AM MDT
Federal prosecutors say it will take two months to try a private Utah agency for alleged adoption and immigration fraud. The agency, Focus on Children, is accused of duping birth parents in Samoa into placing their children for adoption.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Pead said Monday that the government spent about eight months investigating Focus on Children and gathering evidence. The case involves approximately 80 children from Samoa, 40 to 45 birth families and 60 adoptive families, he told Magistrate David Nuffer....
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