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Hi there.
Good evening.
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Happy Sunday.
My name is Tara.
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We trusted her.
She was our friend.
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- It's a boy!
- It's a boy?
5
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I had met this baby
that I thought was mine.
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Something didn't sit
right with me.
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What are you hiding?
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The more you peel back
the layers,
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the more bizarre
the story's got.
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00:00:28,061 --> 00:00:30,597
The amount of people
that she had to lie to,
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the quantity of lies.
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Do we need to be scared?
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We had no idea
of the scale
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this scheme would rise to.
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She's like selling babies
on the black market.
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She is a brilliant monster.
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It was devastating.
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I truly knew in that moment
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that my life would never
be the same.
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I'm Special Agent
Matt Sluss, FBI.
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I'm Intelligence Analyst
Nishawn Spiller, FBI Detroit.
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When serious crime strikes,
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the special agents
of the FBI answer the call.
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Fidelity, bravery, integrity.
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This...
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is "FEDS."
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Hey there, everyone.
It's me, Tara,
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the founder and director of
Always Hope Pregnancy Center.
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And we are live with you today
from our brand new office.
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We're absolutely loving it.
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We've got a really nice view
of the city now,
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which makes me happy.
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I met Kyle back in 2014
on a dating app.
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We dated for a year,
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and then he proposed to
me on a pier in Lake Michigan.
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And then, a year after that,
we were married.
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Kyle and I,
we are a same-sex couple,
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and we really, really wanted
to have children.
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We talked through all
the different options,
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fostering is a great route,
but it wasn't gonna be for us.
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Surrogacy, we didn't
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know how to go about
that, right?
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And adoption kinda just fell
into our lap as the best fit.
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We went into the whole adoption
process with a lot of concerns.
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We're a same-sex couple.
We're both males.
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We heard horror stories
of them being very strict
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and that you're gonna have
to wait years to go
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and find an adoption.
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But we were both willing
to fight for it.
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We were talking to a friend
of ours, and it was recommended
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that there was this woman,
Tara Lee, that had
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an adoption agency
called "Always Hope."
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It's been a minute since
we've given you an update,
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and we wanted to bring you
another birth-mom story today.
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And today with me, I have Alex,
and Alex's beautiful baby boy,
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Landon, was born on March 14th.
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We looked up
Always Hope and Tara Lee,
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and what she was doing,
and it seemed legit.
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So we actually met
and sat down with Tara.
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We showed our concerns,
and she didn't see it
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being a problem.
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She was very chatty.
You could joke around with her.
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Everything just
kind of looked right.
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Curtis and I were
high school sweethearts,
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and we always knew we wanted
a big family.
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We had already had
four children,
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but they were
very high-risk pregnancies.
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And so we started looking
into adoption.
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But Colorado is a very hard
state to adopt from.
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We just weren't having luck.
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We came across Tara Lee through
Facebook adoption groups.
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And they had all loved Tara.
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She was a mom of adopted kids.
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And I thought, "Well,
if she can do it,
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and I've heard good things
about her, then we can do it."
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So, in a matter of three
months, we are now matched
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with a baby.
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We talked with the birth mom,
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got to know
each other a little bit.
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When we were matched,
we signed paperwork.
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We did have to put money down
for birth mother expenses--
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rents, utilities, gas, food,
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anything that the birth mother
could need.
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In addition to that, legal fees
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and tariffs fee.
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And then Tara took control
of all of it.
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So we went
to doctor's appointments
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with the birth mom.
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We were there the day we found
the sex of the baby.
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It was great.
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Everything that we could have
hoped for.
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Today with me, I have Alex.
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And she's with us today
to tell you her story.
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So I'm gonna hand it over
to Alex.
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Hi.
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So August of last year, I found
out that I was pregnant.
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It was only a week
later that she had called me
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and said that she had had
a birth mom that she thought
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that we would match well with.
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We were excited, and the first
thing she said was,
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"Now I need money."
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At that point, she asked
for $3,000.
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We knew that that was part
of the process.
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That's just how adoption works.
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OK, this is
the gender reveal.
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- Should I go?
- Go.
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We had a gender reveal party
with our kids.
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Three...
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- Oh, wait, is it a girl?
- It's a girl?
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It's a girl?
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- It's a boy!
- It's a boy?
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We were starting
to get ready and excited.
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The best thing.
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In June, our son was born.
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Holding him that first time,
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and just having that little life
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in your hands
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was amazing.
And Tara did it.
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She did exactly what she said
she would do.
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It was all because of her.
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The baby actually came
a month early, and so we got
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a phone call from Tara saying,
"She's in labor,
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she's at the hospital, you need
to get on a plane now."
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And we flew to Detroit.
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And she took us to the hospital,
and we were walked to the NICU.
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The birth mom said,
"Here's your son."
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Tara said, "Here's your son."
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We took photos and videos
and sent them to the kids,
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introduced him as if he were
their little brother.
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00:08:01,748 --> 00:08:04,017
And on the way back
to the hotel,
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we got a phone call from Tara
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saying that the birth mom was
changing her mind.
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Families know that adoptions
can fail.
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Nothing is guaranteed.
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But I had met this baby
that I thought was mine,
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but wasn't mine.
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We were in the parking lot.
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And I just dropped to my knees,
because I knew
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it was over.
At that point.
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That's it.
I'm done.
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And I just wanted to go home.
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I had actually thought I had
built a friendship with Tara.
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I still believed in her.
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I was matched with another
birth mom.
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And Tara was asking for more
money right away.
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00:09:14,521 --> 00:09:18,224
And if you questioned her
on that, she would say,
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"Well, if you don't pay this
money, you may lose this match."
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The birth mother had asked me
to come out for the delivery.
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And I was the first one
to hold the baby.
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And Tara was
in the birth mom's room
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talking to her.
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And it was the next morning
that we tried to go back
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to the hospital to see the baby.
And we learned that...
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the birth mom had told
the hospital,
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"Do not allow Cortney
to my room."
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It was devastating.
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Mad at myself for allowing
it to happen again.
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And it was also the feeling
of betrayal from Tara.
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Something's just not right.
This is not how this works.
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I met this woman online,
named Sarah.
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She actually had a failed
adoption before with Tara.
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We related in a lot of ways.
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It felt like she'd been through
the same experience.
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So we started a Facebook group,
a private Facebook group
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that started out
with three families.
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In a month, it was 20 families,
and then in a couple months,
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it was 100 families.
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00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:20,046
Far bigger than
we ever imagined.
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00:11:22,815 --> 00:11:24,417
It was really hard
to believe at first.
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More than one of them had been
matched with one woman.
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00:11:28,254 --> 00:11:33,026
So this one woman and Tara were
promising this one baby
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to three different families
at the same time.
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Who thinks of that?
Just disgusting.
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At the time of this case,
I had been an FBI agent
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for about one year.
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I was assigned to our complex
financial crime squad,
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00:12:01,788 --> 00:12:05,124
where I investigate an array
of financial crimes.
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00:12:06,759 --> 00:12:10,597
This unit is comprised
of very talented,
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00:12:10,697 --> 00:12:14,200
experienced individuals
trying to uncover
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00:12:14,300 --> 00:12:15,735
highly complex fraud.
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Some of the common things
we'd investigate would be--
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romance scams,
business email compromise,
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embezzlement,
and corporate securities
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00:12:24,811 --> 00:12:25,712
and commodities fraud.
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00:12:26,813 --> 00:12:29,716
Unfortunately, scams are
pretty common
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across the United States.
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In October of 2018,
an individual
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who was closely associated
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00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,897
with Tara Lee's
adoption practice came forward
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00:12:44,998 --> 00:12:48,234
and brought information
to the FBI that there appeared
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00:12:48,334 --> 00:12:52,672
to be some irregularities
with Tara's adoption process.
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And some of those irregularities
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00:12:56,542 --> 00:13:00,013
were alleged to potentially
be fraudulent.
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00:13:00,113 --> 00:13:02,181
Adoption fraud is not something
that I had heard of
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00:13:02,282 --> 00:13:05,184
prior to this case.
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00:13:05,285 --> 00:13:09,422
So we talked
with the United States
Attorney's Office up front.
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00:13:09,522 --> 00:13:13,126
Matt Sluss said, "We're hearing
some pretty wild allegations
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00:13:13,226 --> 00:13:16,496
"about adoptions taking place
in Michigan, that Tara Lee
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00:13:16,596 --> 00:13:19,098
"double matched prospective
adoptive parents
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00:13:19,198 --> 00:13:21,167
with birth mothers."
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00:13:21,267 --> 00:13:23,736
I was, you know,
shocked and appalled.
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00:13:23,836 --> 00:13:26,105
Even without knowing
that much about adoption law,
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00:13:26,205 --> 00:13:28,041
I could tell
that that's not right.
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00:13:29,309 --> 00:13:32,078
We learned that Tara Lee
was a mom
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00:13:33,246 --> 00:13:39,986
and that she seemed to have
started to engage in adoptions
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00:13:40,086 --> 00:13:42,522
in this unconventional way,
driven by her Facebook page.
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00:13:43,289 --> 00:13:44,624
And it really accelerated
over the years.
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We learned that she did
have successful adoptions.
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00:13:51,798 --> 00:13:54,067
Always Hope was
a registered business
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00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:56,102
with the state of Michigan,
but Lee was not licensed
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00:13:57,036 --> 00:13:58,905
to provide those services.
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00:13:59,005 --> 00:14:04,877
And it appeared that Lee was
engaging in more fraud
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00:14:04,977 --> 00:14:06,779
than successful adoptions.
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00:14:06,879 --> 00:14:11,884
This appears to be a wire fraud
scheme, based on adoptions.
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00:14:11,984 --> 00:14:14,687
We need to investigate.
We need to investigate quickly.
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00:14:18,124 --> 00:14:20,693
We interview dozens of victims,
217
00:14:22,095 --> 00:14:23,162
and it starts to snowball.
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00:14:24,297 --> 00:14:26,466
They took it very seriously.
219
00:14:26,566 --> 00:14:28,668
They came to our house,
other families' houses.
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00:14:28,768 --> 00:14:30,837
They were calling families.
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00:14:30,937 --> 00:14:32,839
We gave the FBI everything
that we had found.
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00:14:33,606 --> 00:14:36,109
You could hear the pain
in their voice, in their words,
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00:14:37,844 --> 00:14:43,549
how Tara would draw them in
to these adoption matches,
224
00:14:43,649 --> 00:14:46,719
would make them feel real
to them, how she would collect
225
00:14:46,819 --> 00:14:50,123
her fees, and would hear
their stories about how then
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00:14:50,223 --> 00:14:51,557
Tara would fail the match.
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00:14:52,291 --> 00:14:54,193
She would tell
simple stories, such as--
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00:14:55,128 --> 00:14:56,629
your birth mother miscarried
229
00:14:56,729 --> 00:14:59,399
or your birth mother
changed her mind.
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00:14:59,499 --> 00:15:01,534
Things that are very plausible
to the victims,
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00:15:01,634 --> 00:15:02,735
so they wouldn't
grow suspicious.
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00:15:03,836 --> 00:15:05,471
The fraud here was so blatant
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00:15:05,571 --> 00:15:06,739
and, in many ways,
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00:15:07,940 --> 00:15:08,541
just a classic scam.
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00:15:12,578 --> 00:15:16,416
It is common to see
that a fraudster,
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00:15:16,516 --> 00:15:19,385
they start by building
rapport with you.
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00:15:19,485 --> 00:15:22,188
Lee was very good
238
00:15:22,288 --> 00:15:25,558
at being charismatic,
being believable.
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00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:29,929
Lee would make it seem like
there was this close bond.
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00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:34,133
We shared everything with Tara.
241
00:15:34,233 --> 00:15:35,268
We trusted her.
242
00:15:36,502 --> 00:15:37,837
She became one
of our closest friends.
243
00:15:40,072 --> 00:15:41,541
So now you trust them,
you believe them,
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00:15:41,641 --> 00:15:44,043
and then they use that trust
to exploit you.
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00:15:46,979 --> 00:15:49,549
She said, "Hey, guys,
your son's birth mother is
246
00:15:49,649 --> 00:15:51,884
"pregnant again,
and are you guys interested
247
00:15:51,984 --> 00:15:53,219
in adopting another child?"
248
00:15:55,655 --> 00:15:58,124
"You'll be a great match.
You'll be a great match.
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00:15:58,224 --> 00:16:00,626
So pay today.
Pay today."
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00:16:02,228 --> 00:16:05,031
And so we wrote her
a giant check.
251
00:16:09,869 --> 00:16:10,470
And we were head over heels.
252
00:16:12,939 --> 00:16:14,474
She was giving us updates
multiple times a day.
253
00:16:16,676 --> 00:16:17,710
We talked all the time.
254
00:16:18,845 --> 00:16:20,480
We start to see that pattern.
255
00:16:21,881 --> 00:16:23,483
That kind of over-the-top
communication.
256
00:16:25,918 --> 00:16:26,953
Love bombing.
257
00:16:29,989 --> 00:16:32,124
In May of that year,
258
00:16:33,259 --> 00:16:35,094
the birth mom decided that
she was gonna keep the baby.
259
00:16:38,631 --> 00:16:39,866
We knew it was gonna be
a little girl.
260
00:16:41,634 --> 00:16:42,869
I never knew
I wanted a daughter
261
00:16:44,604 --> 00:16:45,705
until it was in front
of my face.
262
00:16:50,109 --> 00:16:52,278
And Tara saw that.
Tara knew that.
263
00:16:58,117 --> 00:17:01,153
A savvy criminal
is able to defraud
264
00:17:01,254 --> 00:17:04,090
the same victim multiple times.
265
00:17:05,491 --> 00:17:07,360
And Tara said, "Listen,
266
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:08,895
"I'm on board, I'm here
to help you guys.
267
00:17:08,995 --> 00:17:11,063
"I have birth moms and different
opportunities coming up
268
00:17:11,163 --> 00:17:12,164
all the time."
269
00:17:13,799 --> 00:17:16,002
So there was always hope
that this was gonna happen.
270
00:17:17,670 --> 00:17:19,472
She lets them down.
They're disappointed.
271
00:17:20,239 --> 00:17:21,874
"I'm sorry that
that one didn't work,
272
00:17:21,974 --> 00:17:23,175
"but I have another one for you.
273
00:17:24,544 --> 00:17:27,046
"I'll be able to use some
of the money that you already
274
00:17:27,146 --> 00:17:29,549
gave me, but I'm gonna
need some more."
275
00:17:33,185 --> 00:17:37,089
And so we sent Tara the money.
276
00:17:38,791 --> 00:17:42,595
But we never heard from
this birth mother again.
277
00:17:42,695 --> 00:17:45,197
There was no offer
for money to come back.
278
00:17:45,298 --> 00:17:46,999
It was over.
279
00:17:47,099 --> 00:17:48,100
Just like that.
280
00:17:53,039 --> 00:17:56,609
We had a wealth of information
coming in to us,
281
00:17:58,010 --> 00:17:59,879
and in a short amount of time.
282
00:18:00,980 --> 00:18:03,082
The list of victims grew.
283
00:18:05,851 --> 00:18:07,587
We had a map
of the United States,
284
00:18:08,721 --> 00:18:12,525
and we were putting a star
on each state where there was
285
00:18:12,625 --> 00:18:14,260
a victim associated with Lee.
286
00:18:15,728 --> 00:18:17,463
I thought...
287
00:18:17,563 --> 00:18:19,699
"This is getting much bigger."
288
00:18:19,799 --> 00:18:22,001
We're so convinced
that there's fraud going on,
289
00:18:22,101 --> 00:18:25,938
so, we moved to how do we get
the evidence we need to prove
290
00:18:26,038 --> 00:18:26,906
what's really going on here.
291
00:18:28,641 --> 00:18:31,644
We need to investigate actual
adoptions in process.
292
00:18:46,092 --> 00:18:50,896
My husband and I met 13 years
ago on a dating app.
293
00:18:50,997 --> 00:18:52,632
We've been married
almost 10 years.
294
00:18:54,100 --> 00:18:57,837
We knew that we wanted
to start having kids right away,
295
00:18:57,937 --> 00:18:59,438
and it didn't work out
really well for us,
296
00:19:00,172 --> 00:19:03,542
so we went straight
into adoption.
297
00:19:05,911 --> 00:19:08,080
Hi, there.
My name is Tara, and I am
298
00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:11,050
the owner and director of
Always Hope Pregnancy Center.
299
00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:13,819
A week after we signed,
we were matched.
300
00:19:13,919 --> 00:19:16,756
Tara said to me, "I need you
to send me two credit card
301
00:19:16,856 --> 00:19:18,758
transactions, one for $8,000
for Sheila,
302
00:19:19,525 --> 00:19:24,096
"which is our birth mother, one
for $5,000 for my services.
303
00:19:24,196 --> 00:19:27,366
$3,000 would be due
after the baby was born."
304
00:19:27,466 --> 00:19:30,069
And then, in addition to that,
we would have attorney's fees,
305
00:19:30,169 --> 00:19:31,837
close to $10,000.
306
00:19:31,937 --> 00:19:33,639
She told us, "She's due
in two weeks."
307
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,476
In hindsight, I, you know,
308
00:19:38,644 --> 00:19:40,279
feel like there were red flags.
309
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,417
At the time, I didn't.
310
00:19:44,517 --> 00:19:45,951
I just... We didn't have
experience with it.
311
00:19:46,886 --> 00:19:48,921
I didn't know.
312
00:19:49,021 --> 00:19:51,524
And that's when all hell
broke loose.
313
00:19:55,194 --> 00:19:57,863
I get an email from one
of the referral agencies
314
00:19:57,963 --> 00:20:02,435
that we had signed with,
and it said, "Has anyone here
315
00:20:02,535 --> 00:20:04,603
worked with Tara Lee
and Always Hope?"
316
00:20:06,505 --> 00:20:08,941
I called Tanya, one
of the attorneys that we are
317
00:20:09,041 --> 00:20:11,577
paying to do our adoption.
318
00:20:11,677 --> 00:20:13,145
And she said,
"You cannot tell anyone
319
00:20:14,046 --> 00:20:15,081
what I'm about to tell you."
320
00:20:17,049 --> 00:20:20,219
She said, "Tara Lee is under
FBI investigation
321
00:20:20,319 --> 00:20:21,854
"for double matching families
322
00:20:23,189 --> 00:20:26,659
and matching families to babies
that don't exist."
323
00:20:30,696 --> 00:20:31,630
And I just lost it.
324
00:20:44,310 --> 00:20:46,112
I could not
325
00:20:47,379 --> 00:20:48,414
keep myself together.
326
00:20:48,514 --> 00:20:51,417
We're just, like, we don't know
what to believe.
327
00:20:55,020 --> 00:20:56,689
Mike called the FBI.
328
00:20:58,157 --> 00:21:00,760
He said, "I don't know
what to do."
329
00:21:01,794 --> 00:21:04,096
"Is our birth mom involved
in this?
330
00:21:04,196 --> 00:21:05,698
Do we need to be scared?"
331
00:21:08,267 --> 00:21:10,402
They're asking us,
"What should I do?"
332
00:21:11,170 --> 00:21:16,542
Now, at this point, we don't
know if their match is real.
333
00:21:16,642 --> 00:21:18,210
We don't know
if it's a double match.
334
00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:20,146
We don't know if the entire
thing is fabricated.
335
00:21:23,082 --> 00:21:25,117
We started to realize
that there were times
336
00:21:25,217 --> 00:21:28,387
that she made up women
that didn't exist.
337
00:21:30,689 --> 00:21:34,460
There was a situation where
Tara told an adoptive parents
338
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,763
that their pregnant birth
mother had been shot and killed
339
00:21:38,697 --> 00:21:41,700
and that their baby died
in utero.
340
00:21:41,801 --> 00:21:45,137
But in reality, there is no
birth mother at all.
341
00:21:45,237 --> 00:21:46,071
There's no pregnancy.
The whole thing is fabricated.
342
00:21:51,210 --> 00:21:54,046
Lee even asked one
of the prospective parents
343
00:21:54,146 --> 00:21:56,415
to cover funeral costs.
344
00:21:58,684 --> 00:22:00,653
It started to sink in
just how outlandish,
345
00:22:00,753 --> 00:22:04,056
how cruel the fraud here was.
346
00:22:09,028 --> 00:22:11,997
Mike called the attorney
and asked her, "What do we do?"
347
00:22:12,097 --> 00:22:14,633
and she said,
"Get in the car and drive up."
348
00:22:17,036 --> 00:22:20,506
But you cannot let Tara know
anything that's going on.
349
00:22:20,606 --> 00:22:23,042
Otherwise, that'll interfere
with the FBI investigation.
350
00:22:25,411 --> 00:22:27,646
You have to pretend
everything is good.
351
00:22:34,186 --> 00:22:35,754
Tara was waiting for us
at the hospital.
352
00:22:39,592 --> 00:22:40,726
Our birth mom was already
in a room.
353
00:22:40,826 --> 00:22:41,827
They had her hooked up.
354
00:22:44,530 --> 00:22:47,733
And so I was like, "Oh,
thank God, she's real!"
355
00:22:47,833 --> 00:22:49,468
You know, "It is really real."
356
00:22:56,575 --> 00:22:59,645
I'd never known anybody
who's done this before,
357
00:22:59,745 --> 00:23:01,380
putting their child up
for adoption.
358
00:23:04,383 --> 00:23:05,384
I was scared.
359
00:23:07,987 --> 00:23:10,956
We were living paycheck
to paycheck.
360
00:23:11,056 --> 00:23:12,524
Everything was just
falling apart.
361
00:23:17,162 --> 00:23:19,665
How I met Tara
362
00:23:19,765 --> 00:23:24,169
is I got her phone number
from a therapist.
363
00:23:26,138 --> 00:23:31,210
Tara came to my house,
she was nice, she was pretty,
364
00:23:31,310 --> 00:23:32,778
she seemed like she cared.
365
00:23:35,381 --> 00:23:38,517
Tara made a lot
of promises to me.
366
00:23:38,617 --> 00:23:41,153
"Your bills are gonna get taken
care of, rent's gonna be paid,
367
00:23:41,253 --> 00:23:45,124
utilities," you know,
groceries, anything I need,
368
00:23:45,224 --> 00:23:46,225
my pregnancy, you know?
369
00:23:49,595 --> 00:23:52,831
That's her way of,
you know, luring you in.
370
00:24:00,472 --> 00:24:02,608
At that point, I felt like
our birth mom wasn't involved,
371
00:24:03,776 --> 00:24:05,244
but I still wasn't sure.
372
00:24:06,078 --> 00:24:09,114
We didn't know who to trust
during this.
373
00:24:09,214 --> 00:24:12,184
Mike and I wanted time
to just talk with her,
374
00:24:12,284 --> 00:24:13,118
and Tara would not
give us that time.
375
00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:18,924
And then the first thing
that Tara said to me was,
376
00:24:19,024 --> 00:24:21,393
"You know that you owe me,
you know, $3,000."
377
00:24:25,130 --> 00:24:29,668
The worst part was
when I went into labor,
378
00:24:30,769 --> 00:24:33,372
because Tara, the whole time
I'm, like, in labor,
379
00:24:34,139 --> 00:24:38,077
all she keeps telling me is
that she wants more money
380
00:24:38,177 --> 00:24:39,078
from Teresa and Michael.
381
00:24:42,047 --> 00:24:46,352
Want me to tell them they need
to give her more money.
382
00:24:49,421 --> 00:24:50,489
And I was like, "What?"
383
00:24:54,259 --> 00:24:55,094
The next day,
the baby was born.
384
00:24:58,964 --> 00:25:02,001
I couldn't contain myself.
385
00:25:02,101 --> 00:25:03,569
He was the most beautiful thing
I've ever seen.
386
00:25:06,105 --> 00:25:09,208
But he was tiny.
He was sick.
387
00:25:09,308 --> 00:25:12,044
So he wasn't doing very well.
It was very difficult.
388
00:25:14,646 --> 00:25:17,616
And Tara comes in behind us
and immediately starts asking
389
00:25:17,716 --> 00:25:18,717
for the money again.
390
00:25:23,789 --> 00:25:26,492
At one point, Mike and I were
downstairs eating and we were
391
00:25:26,592 --> 00:25:30,529
walking back up and we just
so happened to run into Sheila
392
00:25:30,629 --> 00:25:33,999
and we took that opportunity to,
you know, just talk with her.
393
00:25:37,102 --> 00:25:40,973
And I told her, I said,
"She's up there yelling at me,"
394
00:25:41,073 --> 00:25:44,076
telling me if they're not
paying her the money,
395
00:25:44,176 --> 00:25:46,145
then they're not
getting the baby.
396
00:25:50,249 --> 00:25:51,316
I just couldn't believe it.
397
00:25:53,018 --> 00:25:55,654
And then we learned
that none of their utilities
398
00:25:55,754 --> 00:25:56,955
had been paid.
399
00:25:57,056 --> 00:25:59,992
They owed $1,000
on their electric bill.
400
00:26:00,726 --> 00:26:03,195
And our birth mom did not
have a coat.
401
00:26:05,097 --> 00:26:09,001
Teresa noticed it right away.
She asked me where my coat was.
402
00:26:11,070 --> 00:26:15,207
- So I didn't have one.
- She didn't have proper shoes.
403
00:26:15,307 --> 00:26:18,777
It was, you know, winter
in Michigan, and she didn't have
404
00:26:20,112 --> 00:26:21,013
clothes.
405
00:26:25,017 --> 00:26:26,051
We were in complete shock.
406
00:26:27,219 --> 00:26:30,756
You know, we had given
her $8,000 for Sheila.
407
00:26:32,057 --> 00:26:34,460
And in that moment,
we knew that Tara had not given
408
00:26:35,394 --> 00:26:36,395
her the money.
409
00:26:38,030 --> 00:26:39,998
She's a terrible person.
410
00:26:46,505 --> 00:26:50,275
We began to discover birth
mothers being neglected
411
00:26:50,375 --> 00:26:53,112
while Tara is promising
care and counseling
412
00:26:53,212 --> 00:26:54,580
that they're just not receiving.
413
00:26:56,381 --> 00:26:59,084
The prospective parents
were paying a lot of money,
414
00:26:59,184 --> 00:27:02,621
for the birth mothers that went
straight to Lee's pocket.
415
00:27:07,126 --> 00:27:10,696
The paranoia, the anxiety,
it was just, it was terrible.
416
00:27:14,466 --> 00:27:17,503
We stayed at that NIC
unit night and day.
417
00:27:19,338 --> 00:27:23,408
We joined the private Facebook
group with all of the families.
418
00:27:23,509 --> 00:27:26,278
And then there's a picture
that comes up of our son
419
00:27:26,378 --> 00:27:27,579
that was just born.
420
00:27:29,281 --> 00:27:30,349
And we found out that
421
00:27:30,449 --> 00:27:33,519
you know, Tara was trying
to adopt our son out
422
00:27:33,619 --> 00:27:35,354
to other families while we were
in the hospital.
423
00:27:38,157 --> 00:27:39,158
So then it was like panic.
424
00:27:48,700 --> 00:27:50,936
At this point
in the investigation,
425
00:27:51,036 --> 00:27:55,841
we began to learn a lot more
about Tara's relationship
426
00:27:55,941 --> 00:27:57,442
with the actual birth mothers.
427
00:27:58,944 --> 00:28:01,580
Tara was very manipulative.
She was very coercive.
428
00:28:04,950 --> 00:28:06,185
That's Tara's house over there.
429
00:28:08,654 --> 00:28:12,057
It's been a long time
since I have been back here.
430
00:28:14,259 --> 00:28:17,062
When I walked in the house
the first time,
431
00:28:17,162 --> 00:28:18,564
I knew something was going on.
432
00:28:21,133 --> 00:28:24,803
First thing I noticed,
there's like six girls pregnant
433
00:28:24,903 --> 00:28:26,705
at this table,
434
00:28:26,805 --> 00:28:30,909
and they were eating
Hungry Howie's pizza and pop.
435
00:28:32,144 --> 00:28:35,614
Tara says to me, "Oh, these are
girls from out of state."
436
00:28:38,016 --> 00:28:38,517
So I was like, "What the heck?"
437
00:28:40,485 --> 00:28:43,722
And she had a big camper
in the back.
438
00:28:45,123 --> 00:28:47,492
And a couple of them were
staying in the camper.
439
00:28:48,594 --> 00:28:50,829
And I was just like,
"What the hell?"
440
00:28:52,197 --> 00:28:54,900
It's just, it's wintertime,
you know?
441
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,669
And these girls are getting
ready to have a baby,
442
00:28:57,769 --> 00:28:58,470
and she's got them in a camper.
443
00:29:01,039 --> 00:29:03,875
It's like selling babies
on the black market.
444
00:29:06,245 --> 00:29:10,115
She went after girls that were
desperate, that didn't have
445
00:29:10,215 --> 00:29:13,218
any other way out
of the situation.
446
00:29:17,956 --> 00:29:21,727
Tara advertised herself
at local jails.
447
00:29:22,494 --> 00:29:24,496
She would advertise herself
at methadone clinics.
448
00:29:27,065 --> 00:29:30,836
She would exploit people
that had deep vulnerabilities
449
00:29:30,936 --> 00:29:34,039
in order to manipulate them
to do what she wanted them to do
450
00:29:34,973 --> 00:29:36,141
so she could profit.
451
00:29:39,144 --> 00:29:43,782
And then I found out that Tara
was doing more than I thought
452
00:29:43,882 --> 00:29:47,686
she was doing, like,
terrible, terrible stuff.
453
00:29:47,786 --> 00:29:51,123
One of the girls wasn't even
frickin' pregnant, and she was
454
00:29:51,223 --> 00:29:54,559
pretending she was,
and Tara was paying her to lie.
455
00:30:00,932 --> 00:30:03,502
There was a lot of rumor
surrounding Tara Lee,
456
00:30:03,602 --> 00:30:05,604
that she was manipulating
people to lie.
457
00:30:07,105 --> 00:30:08,940
But it wasn't concrete evidence
458
00:30:09,041 --> 00:30:11,576
that a crime had been committed.
459
00:30:11,677 --> 00:30:14,546
But then we got a very
compelling piece of evidence.
460
00:30:17,316 --> 00:30:21,553
We were able to obtain a copy
of a telephone call.
461
00:30:23,555 --> 00:30:25,891
An individual brought
this information to our office.
462
00:30:36,868 --> 00:30:40,605
This was a three-way telephone
call hosted by Tara Lee,
463
00:30:40,706 --> 00:30:45,644
where Tara had a call
with a adoptive parent,
464
00:30:45,744 --> 00:30:50,615
and Tara had another individual
named Enhelica Wiggins
465
00:30:50,716 --> 00:30:53,485
on the call, pretending to be
somebody else, pretending to be
466
00:30:54,252 --> 00:30:56,688
a different birth mother
named Chantal.
467
00:31:10,736 --> 00:31:15,807
Tara had actually asked a woman
to pretend to be pregnant.
468
00:31:16,908 --> 00:31:19,478
We know that
she's not pregnant.
469
00:31:19,578 --> 00:31:21,046
I thought...
470
00:31:21,146 --> 00:31:23,181
"Wow, Lee's actually
doing this."
471
00:31:24,282 --> 00:31:25,650
That was a turning point.
472
00:31:25,751 --> 00:31:28,954
It was concrete evidence
that a crime had been committed.
473
00:31:29,054 --> 00:31:31,890
We're ready to go to the next
stage in the investigation.
474
00:31:32,958 --> 00:31:33,925
We can search her house.
475
00:31:44,336 --> 00:31:46,238
We knock on her door.
476
00:31:48,140 --> 00:31:49,608
Tara comes to her door,
and she answers.
477
00:31:52,043 --> 00:31:55,580
And we execute a search warrant
of Tara Lee's residence.
478
00:31:55,680 --> 00:32:00,051
We talk to her about
her business, which then slowly
479
00:32:00,152 --> 00:32:02,154
evolves into us asking
her about more specifics.
480
00:32:03,088 --> 00:32:04,222
And through this conversation,
481
00:32:05,624 --> 00:32:07,125
it becomes clear
that Tara is lying.
482
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,396
Families across the country are
reeling after learning
483
00:32:11,496 --> 00:32:13,799
the woman who promised
them babies isn't licensed
484
00:32:13,899 --> 00:32:16,601
by the state to do
adoption work.
485
00:32:16,701 --> 00:32:20,839
We saw them taking boxes
and boxes of material out.
486
00:32:20,939 --> 00:32:23,842
FBI agents searched this home
in New Haven, Michigan.
487
00:32:25,710 --> 00:32:26,611
How did this happen?
488
00:32:30,515 --> 00:32:31,850
One of the most significant
pieces of evidence
489
00:32:32,617 --> 00:32:35,587
that we collected that morning
was Tara Lee's cell phone.
490
00:32:37,789 --> 00:32:39,558
We found exactly what
we were hoping for.
491
00:32:40,959 --> 00:32:44,062
Text message
conversations between herself
492
00:32:44,162 --> 00:32:47,165
and numerous sets
of adoptive parents.
493
00:32:47,265 --> 00:32:48,667
Text messages between herself
and birth mothers.
494
00:32:52,070 --> 00:32:55,040
We were able to obtain copies
of bank statements.
495
00:32:57,609 --> 00:32:59,911
Trying to uncover what
the money was that she was
496
00:33:00,011 --> 00:33:02,914
making and then what she did
with that money.
497
00:33:03,014 --> 00:33:04,950
Many of the victims,
the dollar amounts
498
00:33:05,050 --> 00:33:10,956
that they had lost ranged from
$9,000 to upwards of $55,000.
499
00:33:11,056 --> 00:33:14,960
And we identified
70 birth mothers,
500
00:33:15,060 --> 00:33:19,931
160 prospective adoptive parents
across 24 states.
501
00:33:21,733 --> 00:33:26,905
After thoroughly analyzing
Tara Lee's financial activity,
502
00:33:27,005 --> 00:33:30,509
we discover Tara has yielded
503
00:33:32,110 --> 00:33:36,948
$2.1 million in proceeds
from her fraudulent adoptions.
504
00:33:38,149 --> 00:33:42,854
Tara Lee profited millions
of dollars by exploiting
505
00:33:44,289 --> 00:33:45,756
extremely vulnerable people.
506
00:33:45,757 --> 00:33:49,427
And she spent the money
on essentially spoiling herself
507
00:33:49,528 --> 00:33:52,731
with jewelry,
and purses and shoes.
508
00:33:53,865 --> 00:33:58,904
Luxury watches,
bracelets, all kinds of jewelry.
509
00:33:59,004 --> 00:34:03,275
Really, really expensive items.
There were just stacks of them.
510
00:34:05,777 --> 00:34:07,145
Of course, that money
was intended to go
511
00:34:07,712 --> 00:34:11,983
to birth mothers, and knowing
that she spent it on herself is
512
00:34:12,083 --> 00:34:13,084
quite appalling.
513
00:34:24,696 --> 00:34:27,566
After the FBI raided her house,
Kyle and I were both in shock.
514
00:34:30,936 --> 00:34:32,971
And being
that we were her friend,
515
00:34:34,539 --> 00:34:35,974
we called her.
516
00:34:36,074 --> 00:34:39,711
She talked her way out of
and explained her way out of
517
00:34:39,811 --> 00:34:40,845
everything that came up.
518
00:34:42,213 --> 00:34:45,317
And we told everybody,
"She was innocent."
519
00:34:48,086 --> 00:34:49,087
We still trusted her.
520
00:34:51,456 --> 00:34:55,527
So we stayed on board,
and Tara said, "Listen,
521
00:34:55,627 --> 00:34:56,761
we can find you another baby."
522
00:35:07,973 --> 00:35:11,509
At this point in time,
in our new attempts to adopt
523
00:35:11,610 --> 00:35:15,647
a second child, we've already
paid $38,000.
524
00:35:15,747 --> 00:35:18,783
But we just kind of went along,
525
00:35:18,883 --> 00:35:21,353
'Cause, you know,
she was looking out for us.
526
00:35:23,488 --> 00:35:25,690
We got a call from Tara,
and we got matched
527
00:35:26,625 --> 00:35:28,026
with another birth mom.
528
00:35:35,967 --> 00:35:38,169
So we were six weeks
in the hospital.
529
00:35:38,269 --> 00:35:39,304
It was absolute torture.
530
00:35:39,404 --> 00:35:43,541
We had a sick baby,
and there was delay
531
00:35:44,309 --> 00:35:47,345
in the legal part of it.
We had been there for so long.
532
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,216
I was terrified that he was
gonna be taken away.
533
00:35:53,852 --> 00:35:56,287
We wanted another child.
We're gonna grow our family.
534
00:35:58,923 --> 00:36:01,092
She stopped
communicating with us.
535
00:36:01,192 --> 00:36:03,695
It was impossible to get
her to answer any questions.
536
00:36:05,497 --> 00:36:08,667
So we thought Tara had
no intention of us
537
00:36:08,767 --> 00:36:09,734
adopting our son.
538
00:36:12,203 --> 00:36:13,772
She was texting with us.
539
00:36:13,872 --> 00:36:16,241
There was communication
back and forth.
540
00:36:16,341 --> 00:36:18,309
We had trusted her through
this whole year.
541
00:36:18,410 --> 00:36:19,310
She was our friend.
542
00:36:26,518 --> 00:36:27,552
We got the call.
543
00:36:30,922 --> 00:36:31,890
Our attorneys called us.
544
00:36:34,959 --> 00:36:37,028
I truly knew
in that moment that...
545
00:36:38,963 --> 00:36:40,432
that my life would never
be the same.
546
00:36:42,934 --> 00:36:44,836
We took a call from the lawyer.
547
00:36:46,404 --> 00:36:48,440
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't
a nervous wreck.
548
00:36:50,475 --> 00:36:52,977
Our attorneys said,
"Are you ready
549
00:36:54,312 --> 00:36:56,948
to come home with a baby?"
550
00:37:02,854 --> 00:37:05,223
Tears, you know,
emotions, crying.
551
00:37:07,292 --> 00:37:08,293
Sorry.
552
00:37:11,863 --> 00:37:15,500
I think he was only six pounds
when he left the hospital.
553
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,536
And so, we got a little,
you know,
554
00:37:18,636 --> 00:37:20,238
his little coming-home outfit.
555
00:37:21,740 --> 00:37:24,876
We were so happy and it
was beautiful.
556
00:37:32,016 --> 00:37:34,219
The lawyer told us
that our fourth match...
557
00:37:38,323 --> 00:37:39,591
was also a scam.
558
00:37:40,992 --> 00:37:41,993
And it was over.
559
00:37:46,531 --> 00:37:47,932
And now we just had to pick
up the pieces.
560
00:38:03,715 --> 00:38:04,883
She didn't really care
about any of us.
561
00:38:06,551 --> 00:38:08,653
She is a brilliant monster.
562
00:38:18,396 --> 00:38:20,899
Tara Lee faced a federal
judge today as she was charged
563
00:38:20,999 --> 00:38:22,433
with wire fraud.
564
00:38:23,635 --> 00:38:25,537
We arrested Tara Lee.
565
00:38:25,637 --> 00:38:29,207
We indicted her
with 23 counts of wire fraud
566
00:38:29,307 --> 00:38:32,410
and one count
of aggravated identity theft.
567
00:38:32,510 --> 00:38:36,147
This 31-page criminal complaint
against her was just unsealed.
568
00:38:36,247 --> 00:38:37,248
The allegations in here
are shocking.
569
00:38:41,553 --> 00:38:46,257
Lee pleaded guilty to charges
of fabricated matches
570
00:38:46,357 --> 00:38:49,227
and misappropriation
of adoption service fees.
571
00:38:52,163 --> 00:38:54,032
The judge was angry.
572
00:38:54,632 --> 00:38:55,934
He sentenced her to 10 years
in prison.
573
00:38:58,169 --> 00:38:59,337
But he said to her,
574
00:39:00,238 --> 00:39:01,406
"I wish I could give you life."
575
00:39:07,679 --> 00:39:11,416
It was my hope, and the hope
of our whole investigative team,
576
00:39:11,516 --> 00:39:15,153
that that sentence would bring
some sort of solace
577
00:39:15,253 --> 00:39:17,188
to the victims,
some sort of peace of mind.
578
00:39:23,294 --> 00:39:25,897
We did manage to adopt two more
children after this.
579
00:39:25,997 --> 00:39:27,398
We completed our family
that way.
580
00:39:30,702 --> 00:39:33,805
We actually did end up adopting
a second child
581
00:39:33,905 --> 00:39:35,707
through a different
legitimate agency.
582
00:39:37,442 --> 00:39:39,310
Baby girl.
583
00:39:45,884 --> 00:39:48,453
After a few years,
we got another call.
584
00:39:48,553 --> 00:39:50,521
Our birth mom was pregnant
again, and she asked us
585
00:39:50,622 --> 00:39:51,890
to adopt
586
00:39:52,991 --> 00:39:54,392
her baby again.
587
00:39:54,492 --> 00:39:58,396
And now we have
a two-and-a-half year old
little boy.
588
00:40:01,900 --> 00:40:03,334
I talk to them all the time.
589
00:40:03,434 --> 00:40:05,870
I'm involved
in the kids' lives.
590
00:40:05,970 --> 00:40:08,506
They see my mom.
They see my family.
591
00:40:10,742 --> 00:40:14,245
I never met anybody better
than Teresa and Michael.
592
00:40:14,345 --> 00:40:16,581
They're like the best people
I've ever met in my life.
593
00:40:19,884 --> 00:40:21,319
- Hi.
- Hi, how are you?
594
00:40:21,419 --> 00:40:22,487
- Good, how are you?
- Good.
595
00:40:22,587 --> 00:40:23,388
- Great to see you.
- Great to see you.
596
00:40:25,490 --> 00:40:27,692
We've got close
with a lot of people.
597
00:40:27,792 --> 00:40:29,027
Teresa and Mike
598
00:40:30,361 --> 00:40:31,529
and Adam and Kyle.
599
00:40:32,697 --> 00:40:34,032
Oh, you got me.
600
00:40:34,966 --> 00:40:37,368
All of a sudden, we had
people that
601
00:40:38,670 --> 00:40:40,571
understood and could relate,
602
00:40:40,672 --> 00:40:42,407
and were going through
the same thing.
603
00:40:42,507 --> 00:40:44,909
All of the heartbreak
that we all went through,
604
00:40:45,009 --> 00:40:47,812
I could not have gotten through
this without any of you guys.
605
00:40:47,912 --> 00:40:49,314
I'm gonna cry.
I really couldn't have.
606
00:40:49,414 --> 00:40:52,617
Right off the bat, it felt
natural and comfortable.
607
00:40:52,717 --> 00:40:55,320
I never felt awkward
with you guys at all.
608
00:40:55,420 --> 00:40:59,824
All the kids call each other
cousins, and...
609
00:40:59,924 --> 00:41:02,293
just one big happy family.
610
00:41:03,661 --> 00:41:04,696
Yeah.
611
00:41:04,796 --> 00:41:05,763
I wouldn't have it
any other way.
612
00:41:05,863 --> 00:41:06,864
Yeah.
613
00:41:08,299 --> 00:41:09,934
She didn't destroy us.
614
00:41:10,034 --> 00:41:12,337
She didn't end all
of our dreams and hopes.
615
00:41:12,437 --> 00:41:13,704
We made those still happen.
616
00:41:17,008 --> 00:41:19,644
Next time on FEDS...
617
00:41:20,211 --> 00:41:21,379
I said I need you
to open the vault
618
00:41:21,479 --> 00:41:22,814
and get out $200,000.
619
00:41:22,914 --> 00:41:25,583
Do what we ask you to
and nobody's going to get hurt.
620
00:41:25,683 --> 00:41:27,485
This was clearly different
621
00:41:27,585 --> 00:41:29,487
than every bank robbery
that I've ever worked.
622
00:41:30,521 --> 00:41:32,557
She said
"It's my job on the line."
623
00:41:32,657 --> 00:41:35,560
and I said "I don't care about
your job."