Bankrupt adoption agency lists Lexus among assets
Last Updated: Friday, July 17, 2009 | 11:25 AM ET
CBC News
Related
Internal Links
Audio
- Elizabeth Snaddon reports: Adoptive parents wait for agency's bankruptcy to be sorted (Runs: 1:15)
- Play: Real Media »
- CBC Radio's Judy Aldous interviews immigration lawyer Michael Greene on the Calgary Eyeopener (Runs: 6:51)
- Play: Real Media »
Video
- Marisa Dragani reports: 'I just want my kids,' says client of bankrupt adoption agency (Runs: 2:24)
- Play: QuickTime »
- Play: Real Media »
External Links
(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)
Laura Morrison says she and her husband paid Imagine Adoption more than $15,000 and are waiting to be united with their adopted daughter. (CBC)An Ontario company specializing in international adoptions that went into receivership this week lists two luxury vehicles, including a $50,000 Lexus, as assets along with $500,000 in the bank, according to bankruptcy documents.
Kids Link International Adoption Agency, which runs Imagine Adoption, based in Cambridge, Ont., posted a bankruptcy notice on its website Monday. For the last two years, it had helped Canadians adopt children from Ethiopia, Ghana and Ecuador.
As many as 400 Canadian families who are waiting anxiously to find out when they will be united with their adopted children are listed as unsecured creditors in the documents, posted online through the appointed bankruptcy trustee, BDO Dunwoody.
The documents show the non-profit organization leased the Lexus from a Cambridge dealership and a Nissan Pathfinder worth $30,000 from a Toronto dealer.
Imagine Adoption executives Andrew Morrow, left, and Sue Hayhow, centre, are seen in this undated photo. (CBC)The documents list $800,000 in fees collected from families — some of whom say they paid as much as $20,000 for an adoption.
The vehicles will be towed and returned to the leasing company, said Susan Taves, senior vice-president of BDO Dunwoody.
Taves said the adoption agency's board of directors recently started probing its finances and noticed irregularities. Sue Hayhow is the agency's executive director, while Andrew Morrow is listed as her partner in the company.
"A few of the board of directors say they saw some cheques that might have been personal in nature," Taves said.
'I just want to hold my baby'
The trustee must also sort out the future of some 40 Ethiopian children already matched to Canadian parents and living in a transition home in the country's capital, Addis Ababa.
Sharla Kostelyk's two adopted children are in that home. She said she and her husband are worried the children won't be cared for, so he is travelling from Edmonton to Ethiopia on Saturday.
"It's a terrible feeling to be halfway across the world and to know that your children are in danger," she told CBC News.
Chad and Laura Morrison of Winnipeg, who already have an adopted daughter, Sara, told CBC News they had paid the agency more than $15,000 and were waiting to be matched with a child from Ethiopia to complete their family.
"We have a five-year-old daughter who asks daily, 'When I am going to be a big sister? When is that baby coming?'" Laura Morrison said.
BDO Dunwoody said it will be sending notice to all families and creditors and families by Friday.
But Morrison said the money is the last thing on her mind.
"I don't care if we get the money back," she said. "I don't care. I just want to hold my baby. I just want my child."
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges

- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- Severe storm in Quebec leaves damage in its wake
- Trees were uprooted, roofs damaged and windows shattered as severe thunderstorms, and possibly a tornado, rattled through southwestern Quebec Friday night. more »
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest

- The deaths of five climbers last weekend on Mt. Everest, with more summits underway this weekend, fuels the debate about the risks and responsibilities of high altitude climbing. more »
- Pope's butler arrested in Vatican leaks scandal
- The Vatican has confirmed that the Pope's butler was arrested earlier in the week in connection with an embarrassing document leaks scandal. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- Severe storm in Quebec leaves damage in its wake
- Trees were uprooted, roofs damaged and windows shattered as severe thunderstorms, and possibly a tornado, rattled through southwestern Quebec Friday night. more »
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- B.C. Premier Christy Clark says she is not happy with the RCMP decision to transfer a disgraced Alberta Mountie to the West Coast. more »
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- The federal government is shutting the Canadian consulate in Buffalo less than two years after costly renovations, while dropping a requirement for visas to be renewed outside the country, CBC News has learned. more »
- Calmer winds ease fire threat in northeastern Ontario
- A change in weather is helping crews battling forest fires in northeastern Ontario, where strong, shifting winds have been fanning the flames and forcing evacuations. more »
The National
The Current
- What does it take to get fired at the RCMP? May. 25, 2012 5:02 PM After a senior Mountie was demoted for disgraceful conduct including sex with subordinates, exposing himself and drinking on the job, some former employees wonder what you have to do to get fired.
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges
- B.C. premier unhappy with disgraced Mountie's transfer
- Everest victim's husband says family not seeking government help
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest
- Canada ending 'Buffalo shuffle' for visas, closing consulate
- Ottawa man in hospital after lightning strike
- Calmer winds ease fire threat in northeastern Ontario
- What a Greek euro exit could mean for Canada
- Police probe Halifax homicide after shooting

