Carolina Beach adoption scammer accused of fleeing home confinement in Asheville
By WECT Staff | March 24, 2021 at 2:52 PM EDT – Updated March 24 at 5:10 PM
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WECT) – A former Carolina Beach woman convicted of running an adoption scam is currently wanted by law enforcement after she allegedly fled home confinement in Asheville.
According to a March 19 news release, Wendy George absconded from her Asheville residence where she was participating in the “Extending the Limits of Confinement (ELC)” initiative and serving active sentences for five counts of obtaining property by false pretense, felony violation of social services, and access computer to defraud.
She was scheduled to be released on Oct. 12. If you have any information on her whereabouts, call 911.
George, 41, previously pleaded guilty to the charges in 2018 after scamming several couples across the nation as part of an adoption scheme.
Starting in November of 2016, George posted on several social media and adoption websites that she was pregnant and wanted to put her child up for adoption even though she was not pregnant.
People from across the country responded to the her post indicating a desire to adopt her child. George then had lengthy discussions with these people and requested that they send her money for food, doctor appointments, and housing needs.
George obtained a positive pregnancy test using the urine of a pregnant friend and to obtain Medicaid benefits from the Department of Social Services. She also paid her pregnant friend $20 to get an ultrasound in George’s name so that she could send the images to the victims.
In February 2017, a couple from Ohio called the Carolina Beach Police Department to report the scam after giving George several hundreds of dollars for food and rent.
An investigation by the Carolina Beach Police Department revealed at least 16 other people who had also been defrauded by George during the same time period.
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