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The FBI tracks down a Largo woman in Seattle and accuse her of cheating 16 families across the country.
By MONIQUE FIELDS
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 12, 2001
About a year ago, Karen Bravo received wonderful news.
An adoption facilitator had found a newborn for Bravo and her husband to adopt. The baby was Hispanic, the child of a young mother who hadn't married the baby's father.
All that stood between Bravo accepting the baby as her own was a little paperwork and $900, Victoria Benning, an adoption facilitator based in Largo, told her. The birth mother might change her mind if the payment took too long to arrive, Benning told Bravo. Anxious, Bravo promptly put a check in the mail.
"Maybe this is it," thought the Davidson, N.C., resident.
She was wrong.
Within days all contact with Benning ceased, Bravo said. Bravo, 38, realized she had been the victim of a scam.
"I'm just really saddened she used this real vulnerable part of my life as a time to take advantage," said Bravo, who has moved to Belleair.
Bravo wasn't alone. Benning has been accused of doing the same thing to 15 other families across the country.
On Friday, Benning was arrested in Seattle by the FBI. An indictment filed last week charged her with 17 counts of mail fraud between March and June 2000, according to the U.S. Attorney office in Tampa.
The charges say 16 families were defrauded out of a total of $14,900. At the time of Benning's arrest, investigators were still trying to determine whether her name really was Victoria Benning. She was doing business under that name but used at least five others, according to the indictment.
The scam, according to interviews and the indictment, always started the same way.
Benning would tell the someone that she knew pregnant women and could facilitate the adoption. As soon as the family sent the money, though, the deal immediately fell apart. She accused the family of lying to the birth mother. The adoptions, first described as open adoptions, in which the family talks to the birth mothers, quickly closed. All communication with Benning ceased.
"I got suspicious," said 28-year-old Angela Nixon, of Concord, N.C., who wanted to adopt a child. "But when you're so hopeful, you put that all in the back of your mind."
Amy Miller, a woman who introduced 10 couples to Benning via telephone, said she was "heartbroken" when she realized what had happened. She runs a Christian-based nonprofit adoption agency called the Link in Concord, N.C., that for five years has helped parents find babies. In less than two weeks, she said, it was clear Benning was a fraud.
Every couple Miller had referred to Benning was having trouble, Miller said.
"She won me over. She won my couples over. I mean, this woman was good," Miller said.
Miller picked up the phone to get some help for herself and the couples. But Florida agencies gave her the bureaucratic run-around. Frustrated, she called the FBI. It took some nudging, she said, but the agency finally opened an investigation. The case now is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Muldrow.
Aside from all of the policing agencies marshaled on their behalf, all 10 couples who had been referred to Benning through Miller have adopted children through the Link.
Bravo's adoption of Noah, 6 months, will be final on Thursday. Nixon also adopted a baby boy, Jordan.
And Miller now gives talks and helps hopeful parents spot red flags in the adoption process. First and foremost, she said, don't send any money without having a contract and having an attorney review it.
Benning soon will be extradited from Seattle. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 85 years in prison and up to $4.2-million in fines.
The U.S. Attorney's office urges residents who think they were a victim of this scam to call (813) 274-6000.