The International Adoption Guides Incorporated, an adoption service provider in South Carolina that were identifying children in Ethiopia for adoption and arranging the process by US-based parents. But authorities in the United States caught on to cases of fraud that were occurring through the falsifying of documents. As a result, several current and former employees of the company were indicted including 53-year-old, Mary Mooney who was residing in an apartment in San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye. Mooney was picked up from her apartment during an early morning raid and was flown from Belize to the United States to stand trial. She served as the Executive Director of the adoption agency and was charged along with three other American nationals after carrying out an adoption scheme for five years during which they violated the laws relating to the adoption of Ethiopian children by using US parents; meaning that they drew up fraudulent contracts and submitted them to the courts in Ethiopia in order to get visas for the children to travel to the United States. According to reports, the US Government is seeking to have Mooney’s assets in Belize frozen.
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