HOUSTON – The owner of a Houston adoption and child placement agency has been arrested and charged with adoption fraud.
Simone Swenson, 40, owned and operated Sans Pareil Center for Children and Family Services and is accused of defrauding numerous prospective adoptive families with the same birth mother, a scheme known as "double matching."
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Swenson would essentially promise the baby to more than one family, those families would start sending money for fees and expenses because they thought they were going to get a baby.
But the indictment alleges once the money was paid, Swenson would lie and find a way out of the agreement ultimately leaving the families out of money and heartbroken with no baby.
According to the indictment, this was happening from January 2013 until January 2014, and Swenson collected more than $110,000. Swenson allegedly used some of the money to pay her mortgage and get her nails done.
Swenson is charged with two counts of mail fraud and wire fraud, each of which carries a possible 20-year prison sentence as well as a $250,000 maximum fine.