Tuesday, October 2, 2012

PAP Sues Agency for Failed Adoption

From the Courthouse News Service:
Pakistan authorities charged an American with child trafficking because her Michigan adoption agency failed to fully investigate its partner program, she claims in court.

Nancy Baney says that she contacted Lighthouse Adoptions in October 2008 about adopting a child from Russia. After experiencing significant delays, however, Lighthouse president Lorien Wenger allegedly "recommended a new country program for the adoption of children from Pakistan."

Baney says she was "hesitant because she had strong heart ties to Russia after having adopted her son from that country."

"Defendant Wenger told plaintiff that she had been 'working for a year' to develop a Pakistani adoption program," the complaint in Washtenaw County Circuit Court continues.

"Defendant Wenger told plaintiff that she had partnered with a Non-Governmental Organization in Pakistan for Christian adoptions.

    * * *

After Wenger offered Baney the chance to adopt a 1-month-old baby in 2009, Baney says she wired over $14,000 for the adoption and spent a nearly month in Pakistan as one of the first families for the Pakistan pilot program, according to the complaint.

"Plaintiff was to spend the time in Pakistan bonding with her baby daughter and visiting the birth city and to complete an IR-4 adoption immigration visa to bring baby Marina back to the United States," the complaint states.

"On or about October 12, 2009, plaintiff was awarded a permanent guardianship for Marina by the Pakistan court.

"Two days later, on October 14, 2009, the US Embassy denied plaintiff's application for an IR-4 adoption immigration visa for Marina. The denial was based on an I-604 investigation that confirmed that two (2) of Marina's identity documents were forgeries.

"The US Embassy also confirmed for the plaintiff that Global Adoption Services was a front for a large child trafficking ring located in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Faisalabad was the city of Marina's birth."

Ultimately, the complaint says "Marina was taken from plaintiff's arms while plaintiff sat at gunpoint by the Pakistani Federal Investigative Agency," according to the complaint. "Marina was placed in an orphanage while her mother, the plaintiff was investigated for child trafficking."
My favorite allegation in the whole suit?  "Lighthouse Adoptions and Wenger allegedly 'became acquainted with Global Adoption Services and [its director] Sadeem Shargeel through unsolicited e-mails that he sent ... offering his services.'"  Lordy, wonder of the idiots at the agency also answer those emails from Nigeria looking for someone to accept a wire transfer of $1.6 million, just send us your bank account information. . . .

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, the worst part is that this lady PREVAILED. US immigration let her bring the kid home:
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=336&articleid=20120603_16_A19_CUTLIN43785

Trafficked kid. From well-known trafficking ring. PAP (now AP) who didn't care and insisted on adopting the kid anyways. Note that she spent a YEAR in Pakistan with the girl, while her other kid (the one adopted from Russia) lived WITHOUT his Mommy for a YEAR.

malinda said...

I hadn't connected it to this case -- what's amazing about that article is that there's absolutely no mention of any efforts by anyone to actually find out who the birth parents were or where the baby had come from or how she came to be in the orphanage, just that the story told about her origins were a lie, with fake birth parents presented. . . .

Anonymous said...

It is also Of note that Baney brought the Pakistani child to the USA on a medical waiver (ie temporary entry permit) and merrily tells the press that she intends to use it to keep the child in the USA permanently!!!!

Which may well be illegal!