Samoan adoption scam: time to right the wrongs

By The Editorial Board •  17 May 2023, 10:00AM

The Samoan adoption scam was a story that rocked the nation some 14-16 years ago when it emerged that Samoan children were illegally taken from their families by an American adoption agency and sent to the U.S.

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The Samoa Observer broke the story at that time on the scam run by Utah-based Focus on Children (FOC), which organised the illegal adoption of over 80 Samoan children after falsely convincing their parents that they would be returned to Samoa upon turning 18, and their families back home would be supported for the duration of the adoption period. 

Under the adoption scam, adoptive parents were charged USD$13,000 for the FOC to facilitate the adoption and immigration process for each Samoan child. American parents that paid the fee to adopt a child soon found out that the children were not abandoned or lived in care homes, but rather came from families in Samoa who were alive and well. The U.S. authorities were reportedly onto the case soon enough and in early 2007 charged the adoption agency and seven individuals with 135 counts: Two of conspiracy, 37 of bringing in illegal aliens to the United States; 37 of encouraging or inducing illegal aliens to come to, enter or reside in the United States; 34 of fraud and misuse of visas; 19 of laundering of monetary instruments; and six of monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity. Two years later, in early 2009, four Americans were found guilty and reportedly received 60 months probation as part of a plea agreement in which they and their agency admitted various immigration, visa, and fraud charges. As part of a plea agreement, the FOC was dissolved and the defendants were ordered to pay into a trust fund to help communication between the adoptive families and birth parents. 

Over a decade after the U.S. Federal Court ruling in Utah and close to 20 years after being taken away from her biological parents, 27-year-old Segia Tupu reestablished contact with her mother and her family at Siumu.

In an exclusive interview with this newspaper over the weekend, Ms. Tupu recollected her harrowing journey as one of 81 Samoan children who were adopted between 2003-2003 under the scam and included two incidences of her being raped by her step-brother when she was 14 and 17 years of age.

“I was made aware of it last year by my brother-in-law. However, I was not sure of what was the truth. I was also not ready to face the truth yet. Two to three days ago, I became aware of the facts and did my own research. Everything made sense and added up,” Ms. Tupu said.

“My adopted mother did not give me my birth certificate and all the documents I was able to use to compare until March when we needed it for vacation on the cruise we went on in the Bahamas.

“That is where we learned that we were not in fact U.S. Citizens, as they claimed. Our permanent residencies were expired and questions began to arise.”

Reading Ms. Tupu’s recollection of the events that changed her life forever should make any sensible person angry and demand answers on why the local authorities – both in the U.S. and Samoa – dropped the ball. Swift action from the authorities at that time would have ensured that she was taken out of an environment where her health and security as a child would not have been compromised.

We all know what happened with the Federal Court proceedings and its judgment in early 2009 when the seven defendants were given penalties that were a slap on the wrist allowing them to walk away free men and women. Only Scott Banks, Karen Banks, Coleen Bartlett, and Karalee Thornock appeared in court at that time so what happened to their Samoa-based co-accused Dan Wakefield, Tagaloa Ieti, and Julie Tuiletufuga?

It is wrong that Ms. Tupu is now left to pick up the pieces on her own, without any support from both the Samoan and U.S. authorities, and seek justice for herself and her relatives from Siumu who were also victims of the scam at that time.

We believe the Samoa Government – through the Samoa Embassy in New York – has a responsibility to get to the bottom of this matter. It should reach out to Ms. Tupu and provide her with consular advice and assistance, following her admission to this newspaper in the interview that their permanent residency visas for the U.S. have expired. 

And the bigger question that the Samoa Government should ask, as a matter of urgency, is what is the current status of the other Samoan children who moved to the U.S. under similar circumstances and are in need of assistance or what to return home now that they’ve found out their true identities?

For the local authorities to turn a blind eye to this case is akin to the Samoa Government giving its stamp of approval to human trafficking and ridiculing the various human rights conventions that it has signed as a nation-state.