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Thanks to my wonderful readers’ comments I did some digging about the Little Pearls adoption agency. They are stuck deep in controversy and I want to let you all know the information that I found.
Little Pearls is an adoption agency owned by Richard (Ric) Feinberg, and they currently hold a license to process adoptions in Viet Nam. Most of the controversy surrounding Little Pearls comes from the fact that Mai-Ly Latrace was involved with them in the past. I cannot confirm that she is or is not still involved with the agency, but past relationships need to be researched just as deeply as current ones. Latrace, who has been criticized by adoptive parents, adoption agencies and the adoption community as a whole for unethical adoption practices was the Viet Nam facilitator for Little Pearls. In March 2005 the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington issued a letter stating that Latrace is “a child trafficker for money” and that she was deported from Viet Nam on October 18, 2002. The letter was confirmed as being authentic by Chien Bach (press attaché) and added that Latrace “is banned from entering Vietnam.”
A 2005 article in US News titled “Pitfalls for Parents: International adoption has become big business, but regulation still lags” states that Little Pearls was issued licensing violations by Florida’s Department of Children and Families. There was evidence that employees of the agency had not been screened and approved by DCF.
Following calls by U.S. News, the Florida Department of Children and Families did an unannounced check of Little Pearls, the adoption agency Latrace has been working with in Tampa. Andy Ritter, a DCF spokesman, says investigators found evidence suggesting that Latrace should be deemed an employee of the agency for regulatory purposes, such as her use of a company cellphone.
Although DCF gathered evidence that proved that Latrace was involved with Little Pearls, in a letter Feinberg told DCF investigators:
…as far back as June 2004 that Latrace “was not involved as an employee or as an independent contractor facilitating or assisting in adoptions”
Feinberg went on to state that Latrace was only involved in the designing of a website.
And the confusion continues…
“You stated that the website design was her only activity . . . and that she no longer had, nor would she have, any relationship with your practice and Little Pearls,” the letter says.
But Feinberg told U.S. News that Latrace has worked directly with clients, answered their E-mails, and generally helped facilitate adoptions. Feinberg added that Latrace does an “excellent job” and is “the most devoted and dedicated adoption advocate” he has ever met. By Kit R. Roane
In a Tampa Tribune article on August 21, 2005 titled “In Shadow of Adoption,” Julie Pace writes that
Feinberg started working with Latrace about two years ago, first with Loving Adoptions Worldwide, an international adoption law firm. Latrace was listed as a director on the business’s January 2004 incorporation papers.
Feinberg dissolved Loving Adoptions in June that year when he incorporated Little Pearls. He hired Latrace as an international adoption consultant to work on program development.
The article states that according to Feinberg, Latrace did not need to have the DCF background checks due to her employment status as a consultant, but he ran his own checks and they were clear.
Although Feinberg claimed that Latrace was only employed as a consultant,
Department licensing agents found Latrace may have been working in a greater capacity than as a consultant, as Feinberg had said.“There was ongoing dialogue where she appeared to be the point person for Little Pearls in Guatemala,” spokesman Ritter said. Ritter cited cell phone bills Little Pearls paid for Latrace and e-mail contacts with agency clients that were included in the personnel and adoption files the agency reviewed.
In one e-mail, Latrace wrote, “I am in charge of the Guatemala program. I also do all the matching.” She also told the prospective adoption client that payments could be wired to HQ Online, an international business consulting firm Latrace owns.
Again, I was unable to find any evidence that Latrace is still involved with Little Pearls. I actually could not even find a website for the agency. There is currently talk circulating that Feinberg has become involved with European Adoption Consultants (EAC) adoption agency to do adoptions in Viet Nam.
After reading all of this, I have to reiterate “Do your research!” We are so lucky that we have the internet and so many ways to gather information. Granted, not all information out there is factual, but a good portion of it is. Please take the time to research any adoption agency that you are looking into, including doing some searches of their staff (in the US and Viet Nam) and including their facilitator(s).
If you come across any articles, press releases or public statements that concern any person or agency working in the field of Viet Nam adoptions, please send it my way so it can be shared with everyone who may stop by this blog. Thank you!
Well done! Thank you for providing all your research and demonstrating to prospective adoptive parents just how much research should go into finding an adoption agency.
This is a really thoroughly researched post. Really interesting about EAC and Little Pearls since EAC is not even licensed and Little Pearls seems to have no active Vietnam program to speak of despite being licensed. What I’d like to know is how they were licensed to begin with, with their history?!?
Thanks Lisa!
Steppingonlegos-you make an EXCELLENT point!!! Just because agencies are licensed by VN does not mean that they’re good or ethical. It’s ridiculously disheartening to me that agencies with horrible past track records are being licensed, but it just proves my point that as paps and adoptive parents we need to stay current and research any agency that we may work with. If the welfare of the children was put as the highest priority and people did the appropriate research unethical agencies would no longer be able to exist.
Thanks so much for posting!
Take care,
Rebecca
EAC I think was an agency that called me about adopting from Guatemala.
Or it could be a different one…
Tell me more about them…
Thanks so much for this! A couple we traveled with worked with Mai Ly Latrace and were horrified that Little Pearls was licensed. Their previous adoption also had their faciliator deported during their trip and they were left alone with no one to translate for and the government doing intense background checks into the children before they were allowed to leave.
Interesting.
We adopted through EAC prior to Vietnam shutting down and changing rules. They had a different facilitator at the time and he was very very good. The facilitator and EAC parted ways awhile back, and he know works for VORF.
EAC hasn’t had a Vietnam program in place since the shut-down so I guess they’d been looking for a facilitator before putting their program back in place.
The only information I could find on EAC that’s not second-hand information is that (per their website) they’re not accepting any applications into their VN program and (per the US Embassy website)they’re currently not licensed in VN.
Judy’s comment reinforces that when researching agencies, the facilitator that you will be working with needs to be researched as well. It can take some digging, but it’s time well spent.
Thank you for your insightful post. I would, however, love to know if you have any information from the agency, press or otherwise that is less than nearly 3 years old? It seems like the last known relationship with Feinberg and LaTrace is 2002 or 2003? I could be totally wrong on what I think I read in your post, but I would love to know more. Little Pearls DOES have a website and it’s http://www.littlepearls.com I bet you could call them for an update and/or comments that would allow you to give current information to follow-up on your very insightful post.
Hi Kellnsuz,
When I wrote this post I was unable to access the little pearls website. My reason for doing the research and writing this post was to share what has occurred in the past with Little Pearls. Of course there’s a chance that they’re running a clean, ethical agency now, but I feel strongly that past actions should be taken into consideration when making decisions in the present. I’m also confused about the fact that when you follow the link you gave, they’re now called A Angel’s Adoption agency, but when I just checked the Embassy’s list of licensed agencies, “A Angel’s Adoption” is not listed. Seems fishy to me.
I absolutely encourage all prospective adoptive parents to contact any agency that they are considering using, learn about their programs, find out what their history is, and make an informed decision. I’d also recommend getting opinions and first hand experiences from families that are not just on an agency’s referral list~wide spread research will help you find the best agency to work with.
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca
Rebecca,
Thanks. Of course, it would seem ‘fishy’ to someone who’s not asking why. Ask why…they’ll tell you.
Debbie Fisher, the new President/CEO, already had an agency. She joined and aquired Little Pearls because she wanted to expand and do Vietnam adoptions. They were going to redo the name and Florida approved and completed that new name. Then, there was some issue with VN in changing the name of an agency, so right before she left for Vietnam, they just decided to leave it as Little Pearls. The website has not been changed back yet.
She said, when we spoke about this, that they will have to take heat for that along with the past. But, she’s very resiliant and can handle that heat as she works hard to have a Vietnam program that proves itself to be ethical.
She also knew going in that there was ‘bad press’ with Little Pearls and has said to me that time will prove their ethics.
I wasn’t ‘around’ Vietnam adoption in the early part of the 2000s, but from what I can find, there’s no illegal or even unethical activity performed by Little Pearls. All I can find is a relationship of some sort between LaTrace and Feinberg/Little Pearls. Nobody that I have asked has been able to tell me anything other than that. Can you tell me anything?
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
I absolutely hope that under new direction Little Pearls will run an ethical agency that protects both children and families. Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) shouldn’t have to ask to get to the bottom of confusing name changes; information such as names and license information should be completely out in the open.
The articles above documented illegal/unethical activity within Little Pearls because LaTrace was found to be an employee of the agency. It wasn’t simply a casual relationship-it was proven that she worked directly for Little Pearls.
Are you a PAP who is researching agencies? If you take a look under the “internet resources” category to the right you’ll find many places that will provide you with further agency feedback and research.
Rebecca
Hi Suzanne. You were asking information on Little Pearls and said “All I can find is a relationship of some sort between LaTrace and Feinberg/Little Pearls.” I know it is hard reading all different things on the internet. But there are plenty of public documents showing Maily Latrace actually started Little Pearls with Richard Feinberg as co-principals. So the relationship was very close — they were co-owners. The Florida Division of Licensing went public about Mr. Feinberg misleading the Division about Little Pearls’s relationship with Ms. Latrace. He is also on record as saying that he is still (currently) working with Agnes Latrace, Maily Latrace’s mother. These things are documented in different places and if you want I can get post them in PDF format if you want. There are also a number of parents that have posted their unethical experiences with Agnes Latrace. You can always talk to them. And then there is the very public lawsuit brought by Maily Latrace. Richard Feinberg represented her. The lawsuit said that people were defaming Latrace by saying her visa was revoked from Vietnam. Emails were produced in evidence where Latrace even admitted that about herself. The lawsuit shows that Mr. Feinberg had seen them too and the ebassy affidavit showing she had her visa revoked for human trafficking. Ouch. There is also evidence in that lawsuit that isn’t even fit to be printed. I’m sure you can get those documents by paying a document fee to the court. I think the court is considering making Mr. Feinberg pay the attorneys fees of the people he sued. I also saw a document that was a disciplinary action against him by the Florida Bar. If you want these things, I can post them or send them to you. Good luck with your search.
There is so much official documentation out there on Mr. Feinberg, it’s hard to even begin listing it. But here are some links that will be helpful:
Here is the document evidencing the visa revocation of Mai Ly Latrace due to her trafficking in children:
http://www.ethicanet.org/VNLaTrace.pdf
After her deportation, Mr. Feinberg nevertheless decided to open up an adoption agency with Ms. LaTrace. It was originally called Loving Adoptions Worldwide and Feinberg and LaTrace were both owners/principals together. Go to http://www.sunbiz.org and under “corporations”, hit “inquire by name” and then put in the following name:
LOVING ADOPTIONS WORLDWIDE I, INC.
By far the most telling “evidence” about Mr. Feinberg is in 2 cases he brought (on behalf of LaTrace) against families that dared to say Ms. LaTrace’s visa was revoked and tell their stories about their adoption experiences. The documents in those cases are available to the public and I assume the person inquiring about legal evidence will surely check them. Here are the case numbers to those 2 cases which are obtainable right off the Pinellas County Court Records Web Site: http://pubtitlet.co.pinellas.fl.us/mainmenux.jsp Feinberg states exactly what his relationship with LaTrace was/is in those documents and his knowledge about her. Here are the numbers for the cases so the person asking about the evidence can get the documents:
04641XXCI
04004547CI
Someone should let the person inquiring know that these links have been posted.
Good luck!
Thanks for the info. First, Ric Feinberg is not involved with Little Pearls aside from being on the current Vietnam license (thus a board member). When is he documented as saying that he is working with LaTrace still? He’s not doing adoptions.
Also, if you look at the Sunbiz info, Little Pearls has a new owner.
I understand that LaTrace and Feinberg had a relationship. I don’t know why the agency they started was dissolved 1 month after they opened it. I don’t know what LaTrace and Feinberg did that was illegal or unethical regarding processing or completing adoptions. I understand that there are many allegations made of LaTrace. It seems like her visa was revoked before her relationship with Feinberg. It seems like all the things she was accused of were before that time. Nonetheless, I look forward to seeing her duly punished for whatever she is responsible for.
I cannot, however, get past the fact that there is a good relationship with Dr Long/Vietnam and the current ownership/staff of Little Pearls and yet people still want to continue the black mark. I really don’t get that.
What would it take for the Little Pearls that exists in 2007…NOT 2004…to prove to the accusors that they are running a legitimate, honorable, ethical agency that no longer involves the people who are alleged to have committed crimes.
I know that there is a case that is supposed to be tried this month in Florida. I look forward to the result of that. I look forward to any and all guilty parties to be duly prosecuted. Truly, I do. I look forward to getting this chapter behind us.
We are using Little Pearls for our adoption. I would not change a thing.
Suzanne
Suzanne:
Ric Feinberg is currently a member of the board of directors (he is even Vice-President) of the very agency you are using for your adoption and therefore has considerable say in how your agency is managed. You asked for evidence about him and you were given links so you could get the litigation documents which contain evidence you *say* you want. Those documents address Mr. Feinberg’s activities in regards to Vietnam adoptions. And they include affidavits from Mr. Feinberg himself. Same goes for written ethics decisions taken by the Florida Bar Association. Why don’t you read these things and then come back if you want to discuss these topics further. Why keep posting about something when you haven’t read the evidence (the very thing you requested in the first place).
Suzanne, you asked: “What would it take for the Little Pearls that exists in 2007…NOT 2004…to prove to the accusors that they are running a legitimate, honorable, ethical agency that no longer involves the people who are alleged to have committed crimes. “
They could start by making a clean break and not having any involvement with said people. Sadly they are still involved with those people as adoptionblogmom stated, thus they will continue to raise red flags.
Adoptionblogmom, I really appreciate the information and links you posted-thank you.
Suzanne:
You wrote earlier this month, “I know that there is a case that is supposed to be tried this month in Florida. I look forward to the result of that.” Well, the case was resolved AGAINST the director of your agency (Ric Feinberg) and his client Mai Ly Latrace (also known as Mai Ly Miller) yesterday, October 30, 2007. The only question that remains is the issue of the court imposing fines and fees against Ms. Latrace for their actions. The PDF of the judgment will be publicly posted soon. I assume you’re going to read the case now, right?
adoptionblogmom,
I already read the case long ago. Sorry you had to say such a backhanded comment. And I have been too busy with my family to hear the result of Oct 30…especially since it was just a couple days ago. I’m so glad I could come here to find out that it did actually finally happen.
First, Ric Feinberg is NOT the director of Little Pearls. The President, CEO and director of Little Pearls is Debbie Fischer. Feinberg holds a position on the board because the license is in his name. Would you please consider, since it has been said many times in many forums as well as on the Little Pearls website that he is NOT the director, stopping calling him the director? He doesn’t even own the agency anymore.
Second, I’m glad that justice is served for someone who did something wrong. That’s always best. I hope that MayLi LaTrace, if she has been convicted of crimes involving adoption or orphans, that she will never be allowed to be involved with such work in any way. Just like when someone abuses an animal, one can only hope and pray that the court will not allow them to have a pet again. This is best.
A clean break would be great. I agree with that commenter. It is my understanding that until the license is changed with VN, Feinberg has to remain in some capacity. Because there was already relationship and sponsorship of orphanages, Debbie did not want to stop that work in Vietnam. I’m glad she didn’t. Orphans are being placed that might not otherwise be.
If anyone has any concern and I’d suggest before stating things as fact, why not give Little Pearls a call and ask the questions? I’m not careless and haphazard. I’m not unethical in my life. I would never ever accept an underhanded dealing even if I was only suspicious and had no proof. Can I make a mistake? Of course I can. But, in this, I felt that I needed to ask questions before I made judgements. I’m glad I did. Many things were relieved.
I’m also very glad that people expose things as LaTrace. This is very important. I have never and would never say otherwise. I just think we can take things too far and reality can get past us.
CORRECTION:
Ric Feinberg is the Director OF THE BOARD for Little Pearls
Liz Morrill is the Director of the Agency
So, using the word “director” with Ric Feinberg would not be incorrect, but it would be incomplete as he’s NOT the agency director as we’d all presume an agency director to be. That would be Liz’s job.
He holds a position on the board.
He’s the director of the Board of Little Pearls. That makes him the big man in charge. Board of Directors run companies. He holds the highest position on the Board. In the case mentioned, there is much said about him and by him. And this is the head honcho at your agency. These are facts. Sorry they upset you.
By the way, Keith Wynne just recently filed a motion with the court seeking to represent Mai Ly Latrace and to stop the summary judgment against her filed by Feinberg. He lost. The judge threw the case out entirely, over Keith Wynne’s objections. Keith Wynne (along with Debbie and Elizabeth), who was actively seeking to represent Mai Ly Latrace, is on the board of your agency. So much for a clean break.
That would be…. Keith filed the motion to “stop the summary judgment against her AND FEINBERG dismissing THE COMPLAINT filed by Feinberg.”
Face it…you want whatever child is being referred to you and are prepared to use an agency with all these players and with your full knowledge about these players (and refuse to find out more damning things by refusing to read the case file — the exact legal stuff you asked for in the first place.” Instead of saying “Oh well, I hope I don’t get a NOID and it works out” you post all over the internet, first asking for facts and then when you get them, you either ignore them (you have not read the case file, try the deposition of Ric Feinberg) or you try to dispute them which you cannot since they are facts. If you really must get on this woman’s blog and try to make facts go away (they don’t) why don’t you instead tell us who the facilitators in Viet Nam who will actually arrange your G&R? If you’d read the case file, you’d see Ric Feinberg still had plans to use the services of Agnes Latrace (Mai Ly’s mother).
Once again, stop lashing out at people who are giving you all this information you asked for. And…don’t forget, your own child will be reading this stuff when he/she Googles her adoption agency, which will happen.
As someone, and I have no idea who, (because they are hiding behind anonymity), LIED to my friend’s daughter, I am afraid of what you people will do if I tell the names of the current LP facilitators.
Please ask Little Pearls for the names of their facilitators. They have nothing to hide from you.
Whoever is hiding behind a mask, using and lying to my friends’ children who are completely unrelated to my adoption, should show their face. You can email me, since you say that posting to my blog does not work, it is kellnsuz@gmail.com and I would love to have a conversation with you and find out why you are dragging my friends’ children into this.
I do not know where else the person would be coming from other than a reader here, because I no longer post to any Yahoo Group nor did I name our agency on my blog.
This is sad and wrong. This is very divisive. I hoped to get some help. You people attack me and judge me saying I ask and then I don’t listen. That is wrong. I’m actually also having long, detailed conversations with our agency at the same time. I am seeking to find out what I feel is necessary to find out.
I know that by the time my Vietnamese child is old enough to read the internet and look up the agency or any other information, we will all have more knowledge than we do now. You do not scare by saying what you said. I am completely open with my Chinese daughter as I am with my bio children. I will be completely open with her. If there is some fault to be placed, I’m sure that by that time it will be known and all will be in the light.
I am finally checking out and off…..this has saddened me and taken enough of my energy.
(and so nobody can judge and slam me further, yes, I have read the documents. Yes, I plan to read the current documents. Yes, I have already asked about the facilitators in VN and I know their names and when I go, I will have eyes wide open and ears to hear for anything behind the scenes. IF I find anything that falls in line with unethical or illegal activity, please know that I will not ignore it. I never have. That’s why I’ve been here asking questions.
“As someone, and I have no idea who, (because they are hiding behind anonymity), LIED to my friend’s daughter, I am afraid of what you people will do if I tell the names of the current LP facilitators.”
I really don’t know what the problem is here. You posted on here and when I heard about the most recent summary judgment against your agency director (and the attempt by another one of your agency director’s to stop that from happening) I posted it on here because you said you were eagerly awaiting the result of that litigation. But you were no longer on here so I went to your blog. Seeing no email for you, I simply gave a link to this site on one of the sites you linked to a site of a married couple, not a child or “kid”. No commentary. Just a link and a note saying there’s an update on the lawsuit Kellnsuz was wondering about and if she hasn’t read it please tell her the info is here (on this blog). How that translates into “lying” to your “friend’s kid” is beyond me.
Like I said, you’ve made your decision and don’t seem much interested in your agency’s situation and the “evidence” you originally posted asking for. I’m through trying to help you find “evidence.” Good luck. Hopefully, your adoption will proceed under the new rules wherein a child is determined to be an orphan or not BEFORE a parent goes and adopts him/her in Viet Nam. That should protect you from having to be stuck in Viet Nam like other families are right now.
Next time, admit you are using an agency that has all the issues already noted here because they have a child you want to adopt, period. Or do it in secret. Because your attempts to distinguish this or that are not effective. The facts stand as they are and your own agency director (director of the board of directors) started an agency with the infamous Maily Latrace, fibbed about his involvement with her (as indicated by the Florida DCF among other sources) and prosecuted a case for her which he lost (and may even end up paying attorneys fees for). Still director of your agency. And even another director of your agency is still trying to represent Maily Latrace. Not at all the “clean break” you posted about.
Don’t shoot the messenger.
I’m sorry, Adoptionblogmom, but the inconsistencies beg comment. I wish I had a private email for you or that you had emailed me privately as I gave my address here, but here goes….
You found my blog, and I have no idea how. You then figured out how to find my name on my blog (which is Suzanne, and which is nowhere else but on a link on my blog and which is how you referred to me on my friend’s daughter’s blog). Then, you found out how to link to my friend’s daughter’s blog (yes, to me she’s a kid…she’s 17 years younger than me). Then, you knew how to comment to her blog post.
Yes, she’s a married person, but she’s just a kid. She is barely ‘in the know’ on having kids no less getting dragged into the kindness in the Vietnam adoption “community.” That was just not fair at all for you to do.
I’m not sure how you didn’t find the TWO email addresses (again…I’ll post it here, because I have nothing to hide from…kellnsuz@gmail.com) I have linked on my blog. I’m not sure why you couldn’t post that comment to my blog. My friend’s daughter’s blog is through google, just like mine, and it shouldn’t have been so impossible for you to do all of the above through mine. Especially, the fact that BOTH of my email addresses are on there.
But, you say you had no other way to contact me, so you dragged my friend’s kid into it.
The inconsistencies are glaring…..
I came across this by accident but I felt led to post….I was a victim of adoption fraud by Mia Ly latrace and another adoption agency. This was in 2005 very long story, but the connection between Little Pearls was “tried” guess what NOTHING! I had several conversations with Mr. Fienberg , he was very open about his relationship with both mother & daughter. The mother Marie was the original fac. on the adoption it was her who told me something was up with the adoption- if she had not helped me I would not be home with my daughter today. Although another agency did take over and finalize my adoption with her help, VN officials, and US Embassy. I completed my adoption soo smoothly last December at a time when many other agengies where held up due to the holidays and amount of adoptions at that time and the Ebmbassy looking into a few…i sailed through and all the players knew all the players in my adoption and NO PROBLEMS.
Marie and Ric sent gifts to the orphange for me when I was without an agency during the relic. both offered to help in any way they could, no charge. I spent a lot of time with officials in VN on both sides and was open abot past and current, I learned a lot.
I also had “secret” people contacting me proir warning me, threating to take me to court on there suites, and telling me I would never get my daughter, it was horrid.
Conclusion…YES there is a lot we can learn from the internet, yes Mai Ly is a CROOK,( while in VN I meet with Marie and we had a LONGGGGGGGGG talk about her daughter), I canot speak about Ric’s or Maries past and if they have done wrong then yes they need to be held accountable, but I also know there are a few out there that have such a vendetta against them. it is possible to be to make a mistake and be fooled. Both Ric and Marie acknowledge Mai Ly’s mistakes and agree she should pay.
I know I’m gonna take heat for this post, I’m just tired of people slamming other people. Making threats of NOIDS- what a horrid thing to say to someone. Yes someone should do their homework, yes adoptions should be legal, but theres enough work in the world- support each other and if something should happen, be there to help. Or..do something positive for adoptions, start a support group something, but this bashing has got to stop.
MOMMY to the wonderful Mia Grace.
God knew she would be with us the entire time, and we trusted Him completely the entire time. Her first Gotch day is 12-12-07 can’t wait!
Blessings,
Lisa
Glad to hear your adoption went well. It’s also nice that Ric Feinberg sent you a gift while you were in Vietnam. Unfortunately, you are mistaken that the “connection” between Little Pearls and Mai Ly Latrace is “nothing.” In fact, Feinberg opened up the adoption agency with Mai Ly Latrace (as co-principals) with knowledge about Ms. Latrace (warnings, documents, etc). Ric’s relationship and ties with Mai Ly Latrace (including his current one) are not really matters to “guess” about and are set forth in corporate records. And also, the files in the court case that he and Mai Ly Latrace brought (a case that was so baseless the judge threw it out of court). The disclosures about Ric in that court case (as well as Mai Ly) are astonishing and the deposition of Mr. Feinberg himself is a painful read. In any event, as I’ve already posted, Mr. Feinberg’s adoption agency is still so strongly connected to Mai Ly Latrace, they even showed up a short while ago to represent her in court (as I posted about Keith Wynne). As far as “bashing” and urging support of adoptive parents, it’s possible you are confusing this matter with another. Ric and Mai Ly went after adoptive parents (with the lawsuit), not vice versa. Unless you are talking about the actions taken against Feinberg by the Florida state regulators who are in charge of adoption agencies (in which case, I wouldn’t call that “bashing”).
PS – if Ric Feinberg “acknowledged” anything to you about Mai Ly Latrace, he sung a much different tune when asked on the official record (of his and Latrace’s own lawsuit) and to the Florida licensing authorities. I think the blogger for this piece did a fine job uncovering the pieces and while it’s nice you once got a gift from Mr. Feinberg, this thread of factual information (not gossip) has nothing to do with you or the adoption of your daughter. The author of this blog (and commenters like me) take good care to uncover and detail factual information and lay it out for those interested. If you are not interested, just move along and spare us the “stop bashing Ric” stuff. The man has made a complete buffoon of himself all over the internet (and in real life) and has now gotten himself into some serious hot water in court.
I hate to jump into the fray here but… I tried to warn a prospective adoptive parent about a particular agency (Little Pearls). In response I received a nasty and somewhat threatening email from the parent. The parent, Suzanne Craig, seems to be questioning this publicly on another forum (she is the “Kellnsuz” that has posted the comments on this blog entry). I am tired of getting hate mail and threats for speaking up about this agency. I can’t believe that people would really be interested in reading private emails on this topic, but since I’ve been threatened by both a principal of the agency and a client, I’m going to go ahead and set out the full content of the email below. What I sent to the parent in question and her response, verbatim. Have a blast.
I am done trying to warn parents about questionable agencies. It’s just not worth it! All one gets in return are threats, anger and pettiness.
—– Original Message —–
From charlenemc
To: : KellnSuz@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: agency
Hi Suzanne. Thanks for sending this research. I remember doing similar research years ago before I adopted my daughter!
On a separate note, I just noticed that you are using Little Pearls as your agency. I know there has been some reshuffling at that agency; however, it appears the relationships for the most part remain at least with regard to Ric Feinberg,and others. Unlike other instances where allegations are sometimes dismissed as rumours, this is an unsual instance where, because of Feinberg’s decision to prosecute a civil action (which he did not win) on behalf of Maily Latrace (with whom he went into business, apparently knowing her visa was revoked by the Vietnamese Government for child trafficking) there is a big file filled with legal proof, depositions and affidavits. Assuming you will want to read it, the file is under Case No. 04-4547-CI-13 (Latrace v. Judith Mosley, et. al), Counsel for Latrace: Richard Feinberg, Circuit Court of the Sixth Judicial Circuit, Pinellas County, Florida, Civil Division. You can call the clerk of records there at 727-464-3267.
Should you proceed through Little Pearls, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and hope you are home with your child very soon!
Charlene
—– Original Message —–
From: KellnSuz@aol.com
To: charlenemc
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2007 8:07 AM
Subject: Re: agency
Ahhh….Charlene….yet another of the ‘well-meaning’ folks who wants to “make sure” we don’t make a mistake.
Someone should tell me WHAT unethical or illegal activity Little Pearls carried out or has carried out since the reopening.
Hiring someone who had a revoked visa doesn’t mean he hired a criminal. And, if there was never intentions of her traveling to Vietnam, accusations based solely on a visa denial do NOT mean that the agency is involved in some illegal or immoral activity.
Debbie Fischer, the new president/ceo, took on Little Pearls with full knowledge of all the legal and rumor weed documents and has set out to create an agency that removes the ‘black mark’ they have so received.
I think it’s sad that so many people…and many of them who call themselves ‘christians’ are so unforgiving and so unwilling to allow someone to redeem themselves. I am so grateful that Jesus didn’t do this to me, the worst of sinners.
Now, if Little Pearls ever ever ever carried out ANY illegal activity, the agency should be closed. It’s not and, though I’m grateful for your well-meaning warning, I’m using them.
I promise you that if things go ‘right’ and there’s no ‘trace’ of LaTrace (and I don’t think there will be), I will go absolutely nuts with an unbelievable backlash to all the well-meaners who have the goal of taking down an agency. Trust me, I will because I hate to see such ugliness.
Suzanne