Greece: how the child trafficking network worked

The criminal organization exploited 169 foreign women as egg donors or surrogate mothers, defrauding patients through sham embryo transfers and brokering illegal adoptions.

The arrested members of the criminal organization engaged in human trafficking and illegal adoption of babies have been handed over to the competent prosecutor, while preliminary investigative work to establish the full extent of their criminal activities continues.

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According to a police statement, eight people were arrested, including two leaders, as well as one person who is not a member of the organization.

The group exploited vulnerable women by using them as egg donors and surrogate mothers, as well as defrauding patients through sham embryo transfer (IVF) and brokering illegal adoptions.

Up to 120,000 for one illegal scheme

As of December 2022, there were at least 182 cases of exploitation of women in the field of egg retrieval and surrogacy, and more than 400 cases of fraud using sham IVF. The benefit received by a criminal organization for one surrogacy program usually ranged from 70 to 100 thousand eurosand in some cases reached 120 thousand euros.

The roles of those arrested

The members of the organization were organized as follows:

• The leader and coordinator of the group was 73 year old doctor, founder and head of the clinic. He directed the “brokers” and oversaw the legal execution of the surrogacy programs, and directed the other members of the organization to align the elements included in the decision with the illegal procedure they were following. He also used the organization’s money to finance the rental of houses in one of the areas of Crete for the temporary residence of gestational carriers.
• 44 year old Greek, second in rank, received instructions only from the head. His role was to control, direct and coordinate the tasks and actions of other members of the organization. He also performed medical operations on victims of human trafficking and made falsified entries in the Egg Donor Register.
• 44 year old and 37 year old the group members were mainly responsible for the control, transportation, accommodation and legal fees, as well as for the administration of drugs to surrogate mothers. The latter also acted as a broker, while the former was engaged in the conclusion of fictitious lease agreements, forgery of court cases, etc. Their fees for each surrogate mother they introduced into the procedure ranged from 5,000 euros, and the monthly fee for supervising them from insemination to delivery ranged from 300 to 600 euros.
• 41 year old woman as an assistant to an embryologist, together with a 44-year-old deputy chief, she participated in the extraction of genetic material from eggs, as well as in the transfer of embryos into a woman’s body. In addition, she was engaged in searching for interested childless and same-sex couples from Italy, collecting the necessary documents and providing her father’s house for surrogate mothers and donors to live.
• 28-year-old Greek citizen, as a midwife, performed medical operations in the process of pharmaceutical preparation of donor genetic material, and also supervised foreign surrogate mothers and egg donors;
• 41 year old Greek citizenbeing an office worker of another clinic, in order to conceal the illegal activities of the organization, forged the documentation of this clinic and organized the selection of fictitious husbands for a fee;
• 38 year old local woman Identified vulnerable foreign and local women in northern Greece and organized their relocation to Crete, while collecting documents for the issuance of relevant court decisions, receiving a reward of 3-4 thousand euros for each surrogate mother that she introduced into the procedure.

How the criminal scheme worked

As a result of the competent use of information and the subsequent methodical investigation, it was established that the members of the organization had a certain hierarchical structure, carried out constant and long-term illegal activities in the sale of eggs, in vitro fertilization and the adoption of babies.

Adequate use of information was preceded by an appropriate assessment, and as a result of the subsequent methodical investigation, it turned out that the members of the organization, united in it with a certain hierarchical structure, were engaged in continuous and long-term illegal activities in the sale of eggs, in vitro fertilization and the adoption of babies.

Having as the target of their illegal activities a reproduction center in one of the regions of Crete, the two leading members – the directors of the clinic – hired “brokers” in Crete, in Thessaloniki and abroad, to seek and obtain consent from vulnerable foreign women in order to transfer them to the country and exploitation as egg donors or surrogate mothers.

A network of “brokers” then transported foreign women into the country so they could be exploited to meet the needs of the organization’s “clients” from all over the world (couples who were unable to bear children, single men or same-sex couples), which did not comply with the requirements of the law.

These women were then either subjected to special treatment as egg donors to be used in IVF and surrogacy programs, or they were placed in controlled areas used by a criminal organization in order to give birth to a child under exploitative conditions, in violation of the relevant legislation (exceeding the age limit , false judgments, inaccurate, incomplete or non-existent medical history). In some cases, before women were used as surrogate mothers, they were additionally exploited by taking their eggs as well.

To achieve their goal, the members of the organization committed a number of separate criminal acts. In particular, they issued false documents to obtain a court order for people who did not meet the requirements of the law, and in cooperation with clinics, medical laboratories and doctors, forged egg donation registrations, falsified medical documents, executed fictitious leases and cohabitation agreements.

At the same time, in cases with interested parents from countries where the procedure for the birth of a child through a surrogate mother is prohibited, they declared the birth of children an adoption. In addition, they were found to have acted as intermediaries in the illegal adoption of children for monetary compensation and systematically deceived women, falsely claiming that they were referring them to an embryo transfer operation.

Victims
As part of the operation, 30 foreign women, egg donors or pregnant women who have taken advantage of surrogacy, are identified and examined in the presence of a psychologist from the Greek police. Since the investigation, since December 2022, revealed:

• 71 female egg donors, some of whom have been repeatedly exploited by the organization,
• 98 women victims of human trafficking who were exploited as surrogate mothers,
• 13 cases of illegal childbearing through the surrogacy program,
• 4 illegal adoptions completed or attempted;
• 400 cases of cheating/injury to patients through sham IVF in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

In addition, it was found that at least 14 houses were used for the placement and maintenance (including forced) of surrogate mothers.

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