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    Arizona Official Arrested In MultiMillion-Dollar 'Baby Mill' Adoption Fraud Scheme

    Maricopa County Assessor Paul Peterson has been arrested for transporting dozens of women from the Marshall Islands to give birth for adoptions. Authorities accuse him of human smuggling.
    by Bobby Allyn Oct 09, 2019 2 minutes
    Arizona's Maricopa County Assessor Paul Peterson is accused of smuggling pregnant women from the Marshall Islands and paying them to give birth in the U.S. In Arizona, Peterson has been indicted on theft, fraud and forgery charges for allegedly claiming pregnant women from the Marshall Islands were residents of Arizona in order to obtain medical care for them.

    A public official in Arizona has been arrested in connection with charges that he ran a multimillion-dollar scheme in which he smuggled pregnant women from the Marshall Islands to profit from their newborn babies. Authorities say Maricopa County Assessor Paul Peterson's fraudulent adoption enterprise left a trail of forged documents and violated U.S. and international laws.

    Peterson operates an adoption law firm. For years, he has connected American

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