Arizona official accused of smuggling mothers to US to give up babies for adoption – By Alex Woodward (The Independent) / Jan 8 2020
Maricopa County Assessor quits amid allegations he told pregnant women ‘all you girls work for me, not the other way around’
An elected official in one of the largest counties in the US resigned from his post after being charged in three states with allegedly smuggling pregnant women into the country and giving up their babies for adoption.
Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen of Arizona is accused of arranging for 28 women from the Marshall Islands to fly into the state, live in a house he owned, and have a doctor deliver their babies, paid for through the state’s healthcare system, before the children were offered up for adoption.
He is charged with human smuggling in Arkansas and Utah and for filing $800,000 in fraudulent claims to Arizona’s Medicaid system.
Mr Peterson is accused of participating in 70 illegal adoption cases, exploiting women who received little to no prenatal care upon their arrival, after which he stole their passports, according to authorities. The scheme was allegedly arranged through his private sector work as an adoption attorney.
He has pleaded not guilty in Arizona and Arkansas, but he has not yet entered a plea in Utah.
Continue to article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/paul-petersen-smuggling-arizona-pregnant-women-babies-adoption-a9275546.html
