The Andersons:
Chapter 12
Rudy Rivera learned some disturbing financial information. Although the Guatemalan attorney wasn’t on top of Audrey’s case, he did know how much money he received from Building Blocks. He told Rudy he’d received $8,000 in May 2003 when the Andersons accepted Audrey’s referral. He received $8,000 from BBAS, not $9,000 as specified in BBAS contract.
When the Andersons sent their check to Building Blocks, they assumed the “foreign source” would receive $9,000, not $8,000. Where was the $1,000 remainder? It wasn't until February 2007 that some light would be shed on that.
When Audrey’s case cleared PGN, the Andersons were contractually obligated to pay the second $9,000 installment of “the Foreign Source Fee.” But, instead of receiving the full $9,000, the attorney in Guatemala received another $8,000. In total, he received $16,000 instead of $18,000. Where was the remainder of BBAS “Foreign Source Fee” — $2,000 — going?
Every Guatemalan BBAS family paid a $18,000 “Foreign Source Fee.” If the attorneys in Guatemala were getting $16,000 for each adoption, where was the remaining $2,000 going?
Given the figure of an estimated 25 Guatemalan adoptions per year, that would be $50,000 going straight into BBAS coffers. This on top of the $162,500 from the Contractual Fees a BBAS Guatemalan client pays the agency.
$162,500 + $50,000 = $212,500
$212,500 in fees cleared by Guatemala alone for the agency. This is does not include any fees the Russian Amrex adoptions brought in or any income generated by the $450 month foster care fee.
This extra $50,000 (given an estimated 25 Guatemalan adoptions) could be the reason Denise pushed Guatemala as hard as she could. Amrex could not have allow her to siphon off $2,000 per adoption.
Even though they were consigned to Rick Marco's BBAS basement, Andrew still needed to know how much more they owed the agency. Audrey’s case had cleared PGN, but they hadn’t been told when their final payment was due. He called Rick Marco and asked. Marco informed him they owed, per their contract, another $9,000. Since Andrew had been told by Rudy Rivera the attorneys in Guatemala were only receiving $16,000, he demanded to know where the remaining $2,000 was going.
Rick Marco could not come up with a clear response, for if he did, it would have revealed Building Blocks’ connection to Robert A. Jones and their contract with his company U.S. and Global Solutions. As it was, Robert A. Jones was receiving $1,000 from Building Blocks per client. Building Blocks/Rick Marco was keeping the other $1,000.
Andrew, incensed, called him “Mr. ICCF” and asked where that $2,000 was going and for what. Rick Marco, aka Mr. ICCF, did not answer and instead told Andrew “it was none of his business where the money went.”
Really now. How could it not have been Andrew's business where their money had gone? Don’t we all like to know where our money is going, especially $18,000
The Andersons noticed the website for the ICCF and the other Ohio organization which helped Latin American orphans. This despite the agency's best efforts to keep them in the dark. Not all BBAS clients are stupid or clueless. The Andersons were one of the smarter ones.
Andrew was infuriated by Marco’s attitude. He was reeling from the financial risk he and his family were taking with Audrey’s adoption. He’d had enough. He took the phone and hung up on Marco’s blathering.
A few days later, after he’d calmed down and collected the money to send to the agency, Andrew attempted to reach Marco again. His secretary said he was on vacation (those folks at BBAS sure take a lot of vacations, especially when they start feeling the heat). Having no other recourse, he called the agency directly – the same thing we had been forced to do with Anguel’s adoption.
Kelly Hubbard answered the telephone.
Andrew asked her how much they owed so they could send the check. Kelly said “I don’t know what Denise told you, but the computer is showing you owe $7,000.”
Andrew assumed, then, that Marco and Hubbard had subtracted their $2,000 profit out of the goodness of their hearts. He told Kelly a check for $7,000 would be mailed that day. He asked her to let them know, either by telephone or by email when the check was received.
Several days passed with no confirmation from Kelly Carter Hubbard on the check's receipt. She must have been too busy to call them. On July 16 Rudy Rivera called with some news. He said he’d been contacted by Marco about the fees. Marco, who must have rushed back from his vacation, said the Andersons’ still owed $2,000. Marco pointed out to Rudy that the contract specified that they pay $9,000, not $7,000.
BBAS had gotten the check and somebody had screwed up at the office. Either way, the mercenaries at 52 Public Square wanted their cash. They weren’t going to waive or dismiss their $1,000 profit they were making from Audrey’s placement.
Was the agency, on their unofficial records, showing clients paid $18,000, yet on their official books, showed the clients paying $16,000? Could they be doing that? Yes and no — Robert A. Jones and U.S. & Global Solutions was unknown to us when the Andersons were adopting Audrey.
Vickie told Andrew she would cover the $2,000, but she let Building Blocks know exactly how she felt in an email. She had never believed when she contacted Denise in October 2002, she’d have witnessed her son and his wife be put through the hell that they had. Mothers don’t forget how their children are treated. Vickie Anderson is no exception to that rule.
Subj: Money we owe
Date: 7/19/11:10:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: The Andersons
To: BBAdoption
Hi Denise, Kelly, Mr. Marco, who whom ever else gets this e-mail,
There seems to be a problem with the money that we owe. Mr. Rivera called Andrew and Gina the other evening and said that Mr. Marco said that we owe another $2,000 dollars. I am writing this in concern because I am the one that will be paying the money, considering Andrew and Gina have NO MORE money. They have spent every dime that they have trying to get this baby home.
The part that I will need to know before I send any money is where is this $2,000 going? Denise has received all of her money and the attorney (since he only gets $16,000 should have received all of his). If your computer says that we owe $7,000, then that would have been right since the attorney is only getting $16,000 instead of $18,000 that was on the contract. Where is this $2,000 going? We have a right to know.
Denise, I don’t think that you care for me very much because of some of the things that have been directed my way. But I really don’t care. You don’t even know me. Yes, I have been VERY involved in this adoption, and I have had my eyes opened wide. I have felt responsible for this adoption from the beginning because I am the one that told Andrew and Gina that they should chose BB. I was the one that made the first phone call to you in Oct. 2002. You sounded so promising. Well, here we are in July 2004 after hiring another attorney [to finally] bring our little girl home.
The contract says the Country Fee is $18,000. Where else in the country is this money spent since the attorney takes care of things with the $16,000. If this money is going into somebody’s pocket, just let me know who to write the check out to so I can save you some time.
To address the contract that was signed:
That contract was broken back in August when (since you told Mr. Marco that you never lied to us), we will call it facts not being told correctly. Our file was going into PGN [the] week of August 16th. We even received an e-mail later stating that our attorney was filing an apparo on our behalf. None of that was true because the case was not put into PGN for the first time until OCT 21st…WHY?...The excuse that the Hague held up our case doesn’t work. Our case was not even in PGN during the Hague.
We were kicked out on the 18th of Nov, was told by a Dec. 6th e-mail that our case was going back Dec. 21st. We call[ed] PGN, we are not in.
Jan.8th we fly to Guatemala. Denise says PGN is under investigation…She said that we need to meet with our attorney and try to find out about our case. The attorney they say is out of the country. The assistant said that our case had been in PGN for several days and we should be traveling back to pick up the baby in 15 to 20 days. Found out that our case went in the day we arrived in Guatemala. There is another of those facts not being told correctly.
Then we come to the part that we are accused of going to PGN. I only wish we know that we could have went to PGN…Our agency or attorney didn’t tell us that we could. When we were there in Jan. we should have been bringing Audrey home…You or the attorney should have made some kind of arrangements for us to go to PGN and let our reviewer meet us. Other people [have] done this and they got approved on the spot.
But wait, a person’s file has to be in PGN before it gets approved. Once again, our file was out on the 27th of Jan. and was told it was back in on the 28th of Feb. OOOPS! There goes another one of those facts not being correct.
The [accusation of bribery] and the “black flagging” was just another way to have Gina in tears. And yes, if you didn’t think that we did this, you would not have sent that letter saying that BB does not condone bribery. Just to set the record straight, the only person we paid to get our baby was BB and Mr. Rivera.
To top all of this mess off…Gina gets a call saying that the birthmother is having another baby…and wanted to know if they wanted to adopt it. Well of course they did, but when asked if maybe there could be some kind of discount, she was told if they couldn’t come up with the money, someone else could.
A week or two later Gina talks to Denise…says birthmother had her baby. She had a girl…Denise wanted to make sure that they didn’t want to adopt [her]. When they said no, she ask[ed] if they cared if she placed [her] somewhere close to them. Gina said that when Denise told her that the birthmother had her baby, she questioned the date, but there was no reply.
[On] July 2nd the birthmother was to sign off on the final paperwork for Audrey. Rudy called Andrew and Gina and told them that the birthmother couldn’t sign off on that day because she was in the hospital having a baby. Either a modern miracle or another one of those facts not being correct. What would BB have done if Gina said “Yes, we will take Audrey’s little sister!” in March? How would Denise come up with a baby from that birthmother?
I am sure that you know after all of this our file is not back in PGN since Jan 27th. We were told several times that our files was…but it was not. It finally went in April 29th…only to be kicked out again May 4th.
Another unfair thing that happened was when Mr. Marco took over the case. I was [sitting] in my house when Andrew talked [to him]…on Thursday the 27th of May…Mr. Marco told Andrew that we was flying to Guatemala Mon. the 31st of May to make sure that our file was back in PGN. He even offered for Andrew to go with him. He said that the cost was on BB. After that conversation, we felt like finally someone that cares [was] going to help us….Had we not called his office, we would have never know that he didn’t go.
Don’t you think after all of the $$$ that had been spent by this couple wanting a baby and going through months of hell, someone could have had enough compassion to call and let them know…Mr. Marco had [handled it] from his desk? Our hopes [had been] built up for a few days only to be let down again.
No where in your contract does it say BB is allowed to say and do anything they want. Fact or no fact. Only to pull on the heart strings of these parents. We know and you people know that this adoption should have been over with months ago. There were no real problems in this adoption. [The only problems] in this adoption is not being efficient and professional.
Andrew and Gina missed months and months with Audrey…They will never be able to get that back. I hold BB responsible for this. Someone should have stepped up to the plate long ago and [taken] care of this. I never dreamed in a million years when I talked to Denise way back in Oct. 2002 that I would be writing this.
Like I said before, you people don’t know us. We are a good HONEST hard working family that only wanted Andrew and Gina to be able to have a baby…it has turned into a mental and financial nightmare.
If we had not hired Mr. Rivera, our case would still be in and out of PGN (NO QUESTION). When [it] was signed off on, it was really kicked out again, but Mr. Rivera called Guatemala and demanded another reviewer look at it, and they signed off on it. Why couldn’t someone from BB thought enough about getting that baby home and [taken charge] of the situation?
To sum things up, I feel…Andrew and Gina [have been] raped. Yes, Andrew got into a few heated conversations. What did you think they should do? [Sit] back and get more facts that were not correct? We gave BB 14 months to get Audrey home…Per contract, we feel that was plenty of time, considering babies are coming home at 3 and 4 months.
Can you only think what Gina has been through? We had a baby shower for her LAST JULY. Things at that time were moving right along. She has taken her baby bed down…and put up a toddler bed…the Raggedy Ann mobile will not be used. This makes me sick to my stomach.
Andrew and Gina [have a lot] of time to make up for when Audrey comes home, but we will address these issues with the proper people. I sure don’t want another couple to go through what they have.
Denise, we trusted you. We trusted that you would be honest with us. Not one time in this adoption has anybody called Andrew and Gina and said that they were sorry this adoption took so long…I have a small craft shop…if our customer service was like yours, we would be shut down. Keep it up and someday maybe!!!!!
Like I said, I am the one paying the $2,000…so you e-mail me and let me know where this money is going and I will send you a check.
Vickie Anderson
She expressed the same thoughts, feelings and emotions that almost every BBAS victim has expressed about Denise Hubbard and her agency.
BBAS did not respond to Vickie’s email. Therefore, thinking they didn’t owe any further fees, Vickie did not send the $2,000 check.