Fertility Doctor’s Case May See Delays

Federal authorities Monday said it may take a year to extradite from Argentina a fugitive Orange County doctor wanted for alleged crimes in connection with the 1994 UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal.

Dr. Jose P. Balmaceda, 53, who was captured Thursday after being spotted by customs officials at a Buenos Aires airport, is expected to fight extradition in an Argentine court proceeding aimed at determining whether the U.S. government has sufficient evidence against him.

Federal prosecutors maintain their case is solid, but some experts in international law said the extradition could be delayed, or even prevented, because of the complex and unique nature of the case that garnered national headlines.

Balmaceda stands accused of mail-fraud and tax-evasion charges stemming from an alleged scheme to bilk medical insurance companies for fertility treatments. Balmaceda and another doctor allegedly harvested eggs from women and implanted them in other women, or used them for research.

Extradition involving some crimes can be straightforward, but this case poses potential difficulties, said USC law professor Edwin M. Smith.

“Fraud is complicated to prove, and [prosecutors] will have to prove [fraud] under Argentine law and under U.S. law,” Smith said. “What looks like a simple violation of law to us doesn’t look so easy when asking another country to enforce our laws.”

U.S. officials, however, point out that a 1997 treaty between the United States and Argentina should simplify the process because it eliminates many loopholes that previously slowed extraditions.

“We don’t believe that he will have any meritorious grounds for challenge given the nature of the treaty, and given the fact Argentina recognizes the charged offenses as criminal offenses as well,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. John Hueston.

Balmaceda and a fellow physician, Dr. Ricardo H. Asch, were indicted in 1996 by a federal grand jury stemming from their work at fertility clinics in Orange and San Diego counties from 1986 to 1995. The doctors were accused of harvesting some women’s eggs and giving them secretly to other patients. In some cases, couples bore children conceived from the eggs of other women without the knowledge of the genetic parents.

A third physician who ran the clinic, Dr. Sergio C. Stone, was convicted in 1997 of fraudulently billing insurance companies. He was fined $50,000 and ordered to serve a year of home detention.

Both Asch and Balmaceda fled the country ahead of the indictments, Asch to Mexico, Balmaceda to Chile. Prosecutors are preparing to file extradition papers for the return of Asch, who they believe is running a fertility clinic in Mexico City. They are unsure if the request will be granted by Mexican officials, however.

Balmaceda had eluded federal agents monitoring his activities for more than two years before his capture last week. He was identified after Argentine customs officials pulled up his name in a list of provisional arrest warrants as he tried to enter the country.

Balmaceda’s attorney could not be reached for comment. It is still unknown why he left his home in Chile, where U.S. authorities’ efforts to return him had been stymied because of that country’s reluctance in some cases to extradite its own citizens.

One reason U.S. officials said they are confident the Argentines will agree to send Balmaceda back to Orange County is that Balmaceda is Chilean, not Argentine. Also, they said, Argentina has comparable mail-fraud crimes to the United States.

The extradition process can be subject to numerous delays, with individuals able to raise a variety of challenges. Among the most effective defenses are those that raise questions about evidence, and about whether the crime is considered an offense in the country that is being asked to extradite the suspect.

Though an Argentine attorney will try the case, it will be closely monitored by U.S. prosecutors. Balmaceda will also have the right to appeal any ruling. “That’s what takes time; he can appeal it,” said John Russell, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department.

Smith, the USC professor, said it would not be a surprise for the process to drag out.

“Extradition is never a done deal,” he said. “This is an unusual-enough situation that it will take some persuasion.”