![\"Miracles\"](\"https:\/\/proudparenting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Miracles.jpg\")
\nAllison Layton, who owned a California company called Miracles Egg Donation (Miracles), claimed she was in the business of helping infertile couples have children. But her business turned out to be a fraud, and she ended up stealing her victims\u2019 hopes and dreams as well as their money.<\/p>\n
Would-be parents paid Miracles tens of thousands of dollars\u2014sometimes their life savings\u2014for egg donation and surrogacy services that Layton promised to coordinate. Instead, during a three-year period beginning in 2008, she defrauded couples, egg donors, and surrogate mothers while living a lavish lifestyle off the proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not a typical white-collar case,\u201d said Special Agent Dana Eads, who led the investigation from the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Division. \u201cMany of the victims were in a vulnerable place in their lives\u2014working against their biological clocks and trying to afford this expensive and time-consuming procedure. Some told the judge that because of Layton\u2019s actions, they had effectively missed the opportunity to have children.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fees paid to Miracles by would-be parents\u2014known in the surrogacy world as intended parents\u2014were supposed to go into escrow accounts to be withdrawn for expenses related to surrogacy or egg donation. But Layton took the money and spent it on her own $60,000 wedding, a new vehicle for her husband, and high-end shopping sprees she flaunted on social media.<\/p>\n
As a result, egg donors, surrogates, attorneys, and others often were not paid for the services they provided, and many intended parents\u2014including some who lived overseas\u2014failed to get the services they paid for.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became like a Ponzi scheme,\u201d Eads explained. \u201cEarly on, some people got the services they paid for. But then Layton began shuffling funds to cover some clients\u2019 services and not others. And when it all finally collapsed, nobody was getting anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
When confronted by clients, Layton lied about why payments had not been made and refunds not issued. She led victims to believe they might soon be paid, when, in fact, many were not. Eventually, several victims contacted the FBI while others filed reports with the local police department in Glendora, California. Court records indicate that more than 40 victims lost in excess of $270,000.<\/p>\n
Layton maintained she had simply made poor business decisions, but through interviews, bank records, and e-mail correspondence, Eads soon uncovered the fraud.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scam was apparent, especially when we examined her bank records,\u201d Eads said. \u201cLayton regularly told clients their checks\u2014which she never wrote\u2014must have been lost in the mail. She told that to so many people. That story, told the same way again and again, was a clear indication of her attempt to hide the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n