Reader comments
5 from agency in Utah plead guilty to adoption scam involving Samoans

Scott and Karen Banks deserve to go to prision for their crimes. How dare they treat children like commodities, smuggling them and then selling them to adoptive parents. Lies and more lies,,Scott and Karen Banks are sleezeballs and do not deserve justice.

Lets dump them in the Great Salt Lake, without any identication papers, where they will sink and sink because now Scott and Karen Banks STINK.

You can't believe everything you read or hear about Scott and Karen Banks. You need to see into people's hearts before you make judgment on them.If you did see into their hearts you would find the best of people.

Well it's nice to hear hear they at least have good hearts cuz their actions sound down right rotten. Hope y'all caught the sarcasm on that first part.

This is a case of a political leader wanting to get his name in the papers.My aunt was one of the people who basically was forced to plead guilty.She would never & hasn't ever bought or sold children.My aunt was an employee, & never did anything wrong.This just shows me how if someone high up gets into there head that they want you to go to jail if you do not have enough money to get a good lawyer there is nothing you can do about it.Scott & Karen should should have been aware of the things some employees doing because they are the bosses and should know what is going on in there own company.But my aunt who is only an employee & did nothing wrong has to pay for that.You can not believe everything in papers & news say because they are just doing it for the story they really know nothing except what they want to write to get people to watch.Lets hope none of you find out what it is like to be the target of political manuvering & if so have money for a good lawyer

I have known about this agency for a long time and have read correspondence between some of those charged and their clients. I can't say they indicate people with good hearts. Thank goodness I didn't use this agency for my adoptions. Where is the outpouring of sympathy for the children caught up in this??

As the founder of adoptionscams dot net and midwest regional director of american adoption congress, this is a slap on the hand.
People hired these guys and trusted them. Most of the potential adoptive parents lost all their adoption budget and so much more. The families of the children who were placed did not deserve such outlandish treatment nor lies. I swear some of these so called adoption professionals are getting to big for their britches and deserver a far more severe punishment.
Lynne Banks

Scott and Karen Banks are kind and loving people. They live simple, humble lives centered on serving others. They are great humanitarians and have not greatly profited monetarily from their adoption agency. Its easy to make disparaging comments about these people when one has only seen newscasts or read the newspaper, but when you have actually worked with the Bankses and the children/families they've helped, you'd have a more realistic and fair perspective of what these people have done. They are very fair, loving people who were more than likely part of an agenda of a federal employee who got a promotion or something.

According to reports two of the Banks' kids are in Samoa, one is in an institution. Does anyone know where the other seven are? Who is following up on the status of all of the children the Banks adopted?

It's not just what we read in the newspapers but documents and e mails that we saw between the Banks and some clients. Shocking the way the clients were treated, and zero respect for any minor children involved. Scott and Karen Banks only care about money. Transcend, what a joke of humanitiarin aid, they used that company to fund their huge house in Wellsville and all their cars.

Scott and Karen Banks could care less about children. Look how they treated the adopted children that they dumped in Samoa. That is crimes against innocent lives.

Jan, you dont know your sister very well, cause she is a liar and a very good liar when it comes to money and greed.

It's said to see this story unfold this way. But what's even more said is that nobody really knows what really took place in Samoa. I believe what happened was facilitators in Samoa misrepresented to biological parents about the intentions of the agency. Agency always intended to bring the kids available for adoption. The Samoan facilitators did not disclose that to their families, yet told FOC that all kids that they provide as referals for adoption areAVAILABLE for adoption. The only thing you can blame Banks for is trusting the words of Samoan facilitators and not working harder to verify the status. Banks could have, should have been more careful but they did believe poeple they worked with. They are as much victims as the kids they placed.