Adoption Racket Denied Ex-Magistrate Under Arrest New York

Adoption Racket Denied

Ex-Magistrate Under Arrest New York

OB--"Ridiculous" is the response of former magistrate Stephen Scopas to charges that he sold Greek war orphans in a black market adoption ring here.

Scopas is the first person of Greek descent ever appointed to the bench here. He resigned Saturday n i g h t under fire from Mayor Robert Wagner and was arrested on the baby charges.

Scopas and Jacob Cohen, a Brooklyn lawyer with whom Scopas formerly practiced, were accused of taking in at least $70,000 in adoption fees running as high as $2,800 per child.

Under Foreign Law

The 49-year-old Scopas, father of 3, said after pleading innocent that the fees he received were "all perfectly legal law fees for adoptions that I reported in my income tax returns." He termed correct the position taken by his attorney, Sol Gelb, that "foreign law governed the adoptions, and not New York State law ". Gelb added that "all the adoptions took place in Greece and were made in compliance with Greek law."

Dist. Atty. Frank Hogan said that the actual adoptions were legal, but that the methods used to arrange them ·were not. For this reason, he said, those who received the youngsters are in no danger of losing them.

Thirty Cases

However, Hogan went on to say that our adoption laws require placements through authorized agencies, physical and mental examinations of the children involved and investigation of the adopting parents.