Alleged Baby-Sellers Deny Tax Charges

An Irvine couple pleaded not guilty Monday to three counts of filing false income tax returns related to their adoption business, which prosecutors allege was a front for an international baby-selling operation.

Thomas and Marianne Gati, both Canadian citizens, pleaded not guilty at their arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elgin Edwards.

A federal grand jury indicted the couple two weeks ago on charges of failing to declare and pay taxes on income from their business over the last three years.

Marianne Gati’s lawyer, H. Dean Steward, said his client ran a legitimate adoption business that received a $5,000 fee for putting poor Hungarian women in contact with adoptive parents in the United States.

In court documents, Assistant U.S. Atty. J. Daniel McCurrie contends that Gati arranged for as many as 30 pregnant Hungarian women to illegally obtain U.S. visas, give birth in the United States and then sell their babies.

Outside court Monday, Marianne Gati declared that she is “totally innocent.” She declined to answer reporters’ questions.

Also on Monday, Edwards relaxed the house arrest restrictions for Marianne Gati, saying she could leave her Westpark home with the permission of court officials. She must continue to wear an electronic bracelet that allows federal officials to monitor her whereabouts, the magistrate said.

The Gatis are scheduled to go on trial Sept. 24.