An independent voice for ethical adoption
Charges Against N.Y. Lawyer Show Gray Areas of Adoption
From The New York Law Journal:
The couple who turned in a Roslyn, N.Y., lawyer for allegedly masterminding a multi-state adoption Ponzi scheme admitted they ignored numerous red flags along the way. But practitioners say the adoption field itself remains such a legal gray area that it tests the ethical limits of the attorneys who specialize in it.
“We should have been smarter sooner in the process,” said Deborah Josephs of Port Washington, who said that she and her husband were duped into giving attorney Kevin Cohen $60,000 for two prospective adoption matches that never materialized. “It was disgusting, an emotional nightmare.”
According to a 69-count indictment unsealed last month, Cohen, who in 2004 founded The Adoption Annex, a now-defunct nonprofit adoption service provider, stole more than $300,000 from couples looking to adopt by promising them children “who did not exist.” Cohen, 41, faces up to 25 years if convicted on the top charge of second-degree grand larceny and is being held on $500,000 bail in a Nassau County hospital prison ward.
Read the full article here: Law.com
Follow Us
