Doctors Sentenced to 11 Years for Selling Babies Abroad
Six medical workers from a private reproductive clinic in Vladivostok were sentenced to prison terms between 8.5 and 11 years for orchestrating a scheme to illegally export 13 newborns abroad through fraudulent surrogacy arrangements. The case, which involved falsifying medical records and using assisted reproductive technologies under false pretenses, was uncovered after a baby's death in a St. Petersburg apartment.
Consensus
- Six medical workers were sentenced by the Frunzensky District Court in Vladivostok.
- The defendants were convicted of selling 13 newborns abroad.
- The sentences ranged from 8.5 to 11 years in prison.
- The crime involved a criminal group operating from 2018 to 2020.
- The scheme used falsified medical documentation and assisted reproductive technologies.
- The case was uncovered following the death of a newborn in a St. Petersburg apartment.
- The defense plans to appeal the verdict.
- Materials related to two other individuals were not yet considered in the trial.
Points of divergence
- Two doctors from Saint Petersburg and their colleagues were convicted, with five doctors among the defendants — two from St. Petersburg and three from Vladivostok. — vm
- One group leader was declared a fugitive, and another suspect was reportedly in the zone of special military operation. — vm
- The prosecution stated that the doctors could receive over 53 million rubles as compensation. — riamo
- The case involved surrogacy services ordered by foreign clients, with the 53 million rubles including payments for clinic procedures and compensation to surrogate mothers. — kommerstant
- A former head of the Russian schismatic (catacomb) Church, Mikhail P., was mentioned as having been involved in child sex tourism and child trafficking in the 1990s — a claim not supported by other sources. — riamo
Coverage (6 sources)
- Russian doctors sentenced to terms up to 11 years for selling infants to China — Холод
- In Primorye doctors sentenced for case on selling children abroad — РИАМО
- Doctors received up to 11 years in a colony for the case about surrogate motherhood in Vladivostok — Коммерсантъ
- Doctors in Primorsky Krai received up to 11 years for selling 13 newborns abroad — Вести
- In Vladivostok doctors sentenced for involvement in sale of infants — Вести
- Two doctors from St. Petersburg and their colleagues sentenced for selling infants abroad — Вечерняя Москва