Fraud probe launched into bankrupt adoption agency
By Robin Summerfield
Delores and Shawn Bertin are like 400 other prospective families uncertain about their applications to adopt since Imangine Adoption went bankrupt.
Delores and Shawn Bertin are like 400 other prospective families uncertain about their applications to adopt since Imangine Adoption went bankrupt.
Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald
CALGARY -- A bankrupt adoption agency that left 400 Canadian families in the lurch and their overseas adoptions up in the air is being investigated for fraud.
Waterloo Regional Police launched a fraud investigation into Kids Link International, which operated as Imagine Adoption, after meeting with the organization's three-member board Wednesday.
Those members came forward with documents and concerns about the agency's dealings, said fraud investigator Sgt. Rob Zensner with the Waterloo Regional Police.
They also received about 10 complaints from parents, including one family from Alberta, he said.
Bankruptcy trustee BDODunwoody has also provided police with documents and information to help with the investigation, Zensner said.
Zensner wouldn't speculate on how long the investigation would take, but said it would include interviewing employees and witnesses, and sifting through banking and accounting documents among other agency paperwork.
In Alberta, 64 families were clients with the agency and less than 10 had finalized their adoptions.
News of the investigation brought a small measure of relief to local parents swept up in the agency's sudden demise.
"Part of me is relieved, I guess, that someone is going to be held accountable. The other part of me worries how it will affect the processing of my file," said Delores Bertin, an Imagine Adoption client in Calgary.
Bertin, 36, and her husband Shawn, 37, hoped to adopt a child from Ethiopia. Between fertility treatments and now international adoption, the couple has spent between $35,000 and $40,000. The couple hadn't yet been matched with a child when the agency went bankrupt.
Bertin doesn't believe their stalled adoption will ever go through.
"We would love it if our adoption would be finalized, but my gut is telling me that that's not going to happen. I hope I'm wrong," she said.
Bertin also questioned why there wasn't better oversight by the adoption agency's board.
"I'm glad they came forward, but I still think they bear some responsibility for this."
Meanwhile, another Calgary mom, whose adoption of an Ethiopian baby boy named Wondimu was finalized 10 days before the agency went under, is trying to remain positive.
"I hope it wasn't fraud," said Jodi Thurmeier, 34, who says she hopes the whole mess is a case of "hearts being bigger than heads."
"Maybe they launched way too many initiatives way too fast and things got out of control," she said.
Global Reach Children's Fund, a charitable organization also headed by Imagine Adoption owners Sue Hayhow and Andrew Morrow, raises money for health, education and development projects in Ecuador and Ethiopia.
Hayhow and Morrow arrived in Ethiopia on July 13, just as news of the bankruptcy broke in Canada.
In an e-mail to the Herald received last week, Hayhow said she was busy focusing her efforts on the children and would consider speaking about what happened.
Bankruptcy documents posted online reveal the agency had an estimated budget shortfall of $363,000, not included the estimated $800,000 worth of claims from the families.
The agency also had a $50,000 Lexus and$30,000 Nissan Pathfinder and was paying $13,000 a month in rent for three offices.
News of the fraud investigation comes as local parents affected by the agency's bankruptcy gear up for their first group meeting on Saturday in Calgary.
Local adoption experts and a legal expert are expected to discuss the bankruptcy and field questions from families about completing their outstanding adoptions.
Parents who have concerns or questions about the fraud investigation can call the fraud investigation unit with the Waterloo Regional Police at 519-650-8500 ext. 8380.
rsummerfield@theherald.canwest.com