Surrogate Mother Admits Welfare Fraud

A Huntington Park surrogate mother, who won joint custody of a baby she bore for a former Orange County couple, admitted last week that she committed welfare fraud and agreed to repay the government more than $8,500.

Under an agreement with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, Elvira Jordan, 42, pleaded no contest to one count of welfare fraud and will be placed on three years’ probation.

She will also have to pay a fine, the amount of which will be determined by a Superior Court judge when Jordan is sentenced July 23.

The fraud occurred in 1989, when Jordan failed to report on her welfare applications that she had received $10,000 for agreeing to be a surrogate mother for Cynthia and Robert Moschetta. Two other charges of perjury and filing forged documents were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

Jordan’s attorney, Richard C. Gilbert, blamed her trouble with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services on the broker who arranged the contract between Jordan and the Moschettas.

“She was told not to report the money,” Gilbert said. “She was told by the flesh peddlers that it wasn’t income and that it was for medical care and legal aid.”

Gilbert charged that the prosecution was politically motivated because Jordan had fought for custody of the child, who is now 2 years old.

Jordan’s no contest plea is the legal equivalent to an admission of guilt but cannot be used against her in any related civil proceedings, Gilbert said.

Robert Moschetta, the baby’s father who has since moved to Lakewood, was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Jordan, who lives in Cudahy, entered into a surrogate contract with the Moschettas in 1989. Through artificial insemination, Jordan gave birth to Marissa Jordan Moschetta on May 28, 1990.

She sued the Moschettas for custody of the girl in December, 1990, after she discovered that the couple had separated. In court papers, Jordan contended that she only agreed to be a surrogate because she thought the baby would go to a happy, committed couple.

A bitter three-way custody battle between Jordan, Cynthia Moschetta and Robert Moschetta concluded last September when an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled that Jordan and Robert Moschetta should share custody of the girl. Cynthia Moschetta was denied any rights to the child.