FRESNO, Calif : The owner of a
surrogate parenting agency was sentenced Monday to prison for a fraud
scheme carried out through her Central California-based operation, a
prosecutor said.
Tonya Ann Collins - the owner of Surrogenesis USA
Inc. in Modesto - was sentenced to five years and three months in
prison, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said.
The sentencing came after Collins, 37, agreed to a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in February to four counts of wire fraud.
The government said Collins took money from prospective parents and
used it for personal expenses, including automobiles, homes, jewelry,
clothing and vacations, between November 2006 and March 2009.
Collins
held client funds in another company she owned called Michal Charles
Independent Financial Holding Group, which she said was an unrelated
escrow company that would hold clients' money and pay expenses
associated with the surrogacy process, authorities said.
Collins
concealed her ownership and operation of the escrow company, prosecutors
say, creating fictitious employee identities to make it appear that
Michael Charles was an independent company with its own staff.
As a
result, Collins' clients, surrogates and other businesses suffered
losses of more than $2.4 million. In some cases, the fraud permanently
foreclosed victims' ability to proceed with a surrogate pregnancy,
prosecutors said.
Collins will have to report to prison on June. 27. As part of her sentencing, she will also have to pay restitution to victims.
(Source : http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/13/5417474/surrogate-parent-agency-owner.html)
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