Officials Jailed in an Adoption Scam

Sixteen health and charity officials in northern Nam Dinh province were tried for getting involved in an adoption scam. Six of them were sentenced to jail terms of two to five and a half years; the other ten were were on suspended sentences of fifteen to eighteen months.

These officials were accused of receiving babies from mothers with unwanted pregnancies, assembling false documents to show that they were abandoned, and having them then adopted by foreigners. Between 2005 and 2008, there were about 266 infants adopted by foreigners this way. Each officer involved in the case earned millions of VND from the adoptions.

Vu Dinh Ky, former head of a commune medical center, received 28 million VND (about $1,593) for faking the documents of 14 newborn children but told the court “it was just to help the babies.”