Mexico Suspects Lawyer Who Arranged Failed Adoption May Be Part of a Ring

Mexican and U.S. authorities are investigating whether an adoption lawyer here who allegedly defrauded a Wisconsin couple out of $2,500 may be part of a ring that illegally arranged many adoptions of Mexican children for American parents.

The U. S. border area has long been a hotbed of illicit adoptions, a result of the shortage of adoptable infants in the United States and the prospective financial reward for entrepreneurs involved in the baby trade. Mexican lawyers have been occasionally implicated as middlemen in such schemes.

Federal police here say they are seeking the lawyer, Hector Valdivia Ochoa, and several associates in connection with the case. On Thursday, authorities here released a Wisconsin couple who had been detained in connection with the fraudulent adoption of a 6-month-old girl, according to federal police. Police freed the couple after determining that they had acted in “good faith,” but had been duped by the attorney, police said.

Suspect an Adoption Ring

“We think this is an adoption ring,” said Jose Miguel Rodriguez Lorrabaquio, commander of the federal judicial police in Baja California. “This adoption was completely fraudulent.”

Papers found in Valdivia’s office and residence indicate that he may have been involved in as many as 25 adoptions of Mexican children by U. S. parents, said the police official, who added that police are investigating how many of the adoptions were legitimate. No formal charges have been brought against Valdivia, who is believed to have left Tijuana, but the police official indicated that such charges will be forthcoming.

Valdivia could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is also investigating the case and cooperating with Mexican authorities as part of a continuing inquiry into illegal adoptions along the border, said James Turnage, INS district director in San Diego. In the past, children fraudulently “adopted” in Mexico--sometimes purchased outright or even stolen from their parents--are believed to have been smuggled into the United States without the necessary immigration papers.

“We do have a continuing investigation into these matters,” Turnage said.

The American couple, Kevin Masrud, 37, and his wife, Judith Masrud, 40, of Ridgeland, Wis., first contacted the lawyer through a U. S. adoption agency, authorities said. In April, police said, the two traveled to Tijuana, met with the lawyer, and wrote him a check for $2,500, the first of a series of payments for supposed adoption fees that were expected to reach $9,000, police said.

The couple returned to Tijuana this week and, on Tuesday, the lawyer presented the child to them in the lobby of the U. S. consulate here, police said. The couple was supposed to turn over more money at a future date, police said.

Incomplete Paper Work

The attorney assured the Americans that all the girl’s adoption papers were in order, police said, but the couple discovered otherwise when they presented the girl to a consular officer and requested a visa. The visa was denied because the adoption paper work was inadequate, police said.

As many would-be adoptive parents learn, legally adopting children from a foreign nation and bringing them to the United States is a time-consuming and complicated process. U. S. authorities, wary of fraud, will not grant visas for such children unless all the adoption papers, including court orders certifying the adoption, are in order.

Mexican police, who had been investigating the lawyer’s activities, confronted the American couple at their hotel and questioned them about the child. The couple said they assumed that the attorney had completed all the necessary paper work, according to their statement to police.

The couple is believed to have returned to the United States, although they could not be reached in Wisconsin Friday.

The child was placed in the custody of Mexican juvenile authorities.

Federal authorities here have been investigating the activities of Valdivia, the adoption attorney, since last spring, when three children were found in his home, Cmdr. Rodriguez said. The lawyer could never adequately explain the presence of the children, but no formal charges were brought against him in that case, the commander said. In the earlier case, the police chief added, the lawyer denied any wrongdoing and publicly accused the police of having a vendetta against him.