FBI Searches Adoption Broker’s Home

FBI agents Wednesday searched the home of an adoption broker at the center of an international dispute over twin baby girls, and social workers removed the woman’s three adopted children from the house.

Federal agents took personal records and a computer from the home of Tina Johnson in El Cajon, said her lawyer, Tony Capozzola.

San Diego County’s Child Protective Services Agency took the adopted children--two infants and a toddler--but did not give a reason, Capozzola said, adding that Johnson was seeking the return of the children.

Johnson is the target of a federal investigation on suspicion of wire fraud and mail fraud in connection with her adoption brokerage, said FBI spokeswoman Jan Caldwell.

A California couple tried to adopt twin girls from Johnson’s brokerage, A Caring Heart, but lost them to a British couple who paid a $12,000 fee--double what the California couple paid.

The twin girls are now in foster care in Britain while the courts sort out the dispute. A judge in Arkansas ruled earlier this month that the adoption he granted was not valid because neither the birth mother of the twins nor the British couple were resident in the state, as required. The mother of the twins lives in St. Louis, Mo.