Inside FBI investigation of company involved in adult adoptions
FBI affidavit spells out yearlong investigation into Americans Helping America
New details have emerged about a federal investigation into a Sacramento nonprofit.
KCRA 3 Investigates first reported on a company offering immigrants what it said was a quick pathway to U.S. citizenship. That investigation has now reached at least eight other states and three other countries.
KCRA was outside the offices of Americans Helping America Chamber of Commerce (AHA) as investigators from the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized files and computers. It all stems from an adult adoption program that AHA claims will allow adults to become U.S. citizens.
“I think what really attracted the attention of, you know, everybody in general was this idea of family, this idea of like security,” immigrant Billy Rubi said just before Christmas. “Finding like, finally a safe solution to everybody's troubles and things like that, which was being able to obtain a job, being able to walk on the streets without fear of deportation.”
It was a story KCRA heard over and over again.
One immigrant, who did not want to be identified, said, “I was almost ready to be citizen right. I don't have to worry about the police, I don't have to worry about the social security.”
Immigrants were told they had a quick path to citizenship for a price -- paying anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 a person. These people said they were told they could become citizens by being adopted by another adult all through the help of Dr. Helaman Hansen and his company Americans Helping America Chamber of Commerce.
Hansen is the founder and chairman of AHA, which is based in Sacramento. Immigration attorneys said the claim that adult adoption leads to citizenship is patently wrong.
Adult adoption is legal and used for things like estate planning and adult care, but according to immigration attorneys as well as ICE, it has no bearing on immigration status.
Federal agents served a search and seizure warrant on Dec. 22 for all of Hansen’s affiliated companies’ offices, as well as his home. KCRA spoke to Hansen that night, and he said he welcomed the FBI and ICE agents.
“Man, I was not even surprised. I was happy,” Hansen said. “I was happy because -- thank you for coming -- because we need to clear our building. We need to clear how we stand here."
A 75-page affidavit given to KCRA 3 Investigates breaks down why the agents were there and what they were looking for, detailing the almost yearlong investigation. The document states that the FBI is looking for evidence of possible mail fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud undocumented immigrants.
According to the affidavit, the FBI began its full investigation in February 2015 after a complaint by an employee.
The company claims to have people working all across the country -- Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, Oregon, Washington, New York, Minnesota and California. They also claim to have representatives recruiting people for the adult adoption program in Tonga and in Fiji.
The document quotes alleged victims and former employees.
It also details other investigations.
The affidavit states that a Minnesota judge ruled that AHA had violated Minnesota law by giving legal advice and preparing legal documents without being licensed attorneys.
An Alameda County district attorney’s investigation into adult adoption applications by Hansen’s company found some applications that used false addresses.
An analysis of eight different bank accounts affiliated with Hansen, his wife and employees of his companies showed hundreds of deposits and hundreds of thousands of dollars changing hands.
When asked for comment about the FBI investigation, Hansen stated, “Why hasn't the FBI arrest us here? I am waiting for that day.” He added, “the FBI don't even know what they're doing because when I was sitting over there, they were trying to tell me this this this. I listen to it . . . nothing but all false."
Hansen claims the FBI, which had the search and seizure warrant, had no right to take any of the materials in his office because it was protected by the courts.
When KCRA pressed him about the affidavit, he said, “I wrote this out in a letter goes to the United Nations for America violating most of the law of the adoption. And, I'm say that . . . America, you are so stupid you don't even understand the adoption law.”
Hansen pointed out that neither he nor his companies have been charged nor convicted of anything.
Hansen is still operating from his Sacramento offices. The FBI took everything from computers to flash drives to paper files. All of it, according to the affidavit, is being analyzed by computer forensic teams.
There are a number of adoptions still pending in California and other states. The affidavit said Sacramento County will not take any more adoptions sponsored by AHA. It also said an Alameda County judge has revoked at least two adoptions because he found that false addresses were placed on the applications.