Surrogates, Egg Donors, and Families Allegedly Scammed Out of Millions of Dollars

March 19, Los Angeles - The Michael Charles Group, a popular escrow company for several surrogate and egg donor agencies, has allegedly skipped town. The group is believed to have embezzled more than $2 million from nearly 70 families, leaving egg donors and surrogates empty handed. The group is charged with not only taking people’s trust funds, but also leaving town with the dreams of couples who want a child. Furthermore, surrogates and egg donors who were promised compensation and expense reimbursement may never see a dime.

SurroGenesis USA is an egg donor and surrogacy agency which was allegedly doing business with the Michael Charles Group. The two businesses are now believed to be intertwined, as part of an elaborate scheme by the CEO of SurroGenesis USA, Tonya Collins. Further investigation found the Michael Charles Group is perhaps a fictitious company created by Collins. Collins is also listed as the Michael Charles Group’s Agent for Service of Process. It’s unknown if the relationship between the two companies was ever disclosed to clients.

These charges and allegations are being led by Andrew Vorzimer, Managing Partner of Vorzimer Masserman Law Firm in Los Angeles, who says other attorneys are also on board to get to the bottom of these allegations.

Vorzimer says, “There’s a lawyer working in San Francisco right now serving as a point person with the FBI, who’s investigating this. We’ve also engaged the services of an attorney in Texas, as we have been led to believe Tonya Collins not only relocated to Grapevine, Texas, but so did the Michael Charles Company, which appears to be nothing more than an organization created by Tonya Collins and used by her to apparently fund her lifestyle. I understand Tonya Collins led quite the extravagant lifestyle – expensive jewelry, expensive cars, and in retrospect it may have been funded by their clients’ funds.”

Vorzimer also says Collins had only eight employees, not nearly enough workers to staff the number of locations which SurroGenesis USA claims to have been operating.

“One of the most outrageous aspects of this is taking a cursory look at her website - she identified sixty offices around the world. They were nothing but false addresses, post office boxes, or addresses belonging to places like retirement homes. It was a massive fraud that was perpetrated,” Vorzimer says.

Now couples are faced with the uncertainty of the future of their ongoing pregnancies. In at least one case, health insurance was allegedly lost because premiums weren’t paid. Intended parents may now be left with the burden of paying for all of the medical expenses out-of-pocket.

The American Fertility Association has set-up a resource page for you to learn the ins and outs of egg donation and surrogacy dos and don’ts. Visit the page here.

Press Contact:
Brian Armentrout
Communications Director, The AFA
205.425.3644
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The American Fertility Association, a 501 (c) (3) national non-profit organization is a lifetime resource for infertility prevention, reproductive health and family building. AFA services and materials are provided free of charge to consumers and available to everyone without reservation. These services include an extensive online library, monthly online chats, telephone and in-person coaching, a resource directory, hosted message boards, daily fertility news and a toll-free support line.
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Surrogates, Egg Donors, and Families Allegedly Scammed Out of Millions of Dollars

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