BALTIMORE (WMAR) — An Annapolis based surrogacy company has been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million in restitution to clients they're accused of deceiving and defrauding.
The Maryland Attorney General's Office found that Greg Blosser and his company, The Surrogacy Group, LLC, violated the Consumer Protection Act when it sold surrogacy services to consumers for tens of thousands of dollars, but did not provide the promised services.
Following an April preliminary injunction, a Circuit Court Judge in Anne Arundel County issued a permanent order, barring The Surrogacy Group from selling any other services in the future. In addition to the restitution payments, the company was also been ordered to refund all of the money collected from consumers who didn't receive promised surrogacy services.
“As the owner of The Surrogacy Group, Greg Blosser deceived and defrauded people who placed their dreams of parenthood in his hands,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Blosser victimized these intended parents for his own personal financial benefit. This Order bars Blosser and his company from harming any other Maryland consumers.”
The Surrogacy Group generally charged between $12,000 and $25,000 for services, along with additional fees that were supposed to be held in escrow to pay for medical expenses and other costs incurred for its clients’ surrogates.
Instead of holding consumer's payments in escrow and providing the services they purchased, Blosser wrongfully used the payments for his own personal benefit. According to the Attorney General's Office investigation, at one time the escrow account had a balance of less than $2,000, when it should have contained hundreds of thousands of dollars in customer payments.
It was found that 21 consumers who testified at the hearing were owed at least $612,931.33 for payments they made to The Surrogacy Group. Others testified to suffering emotional harm when they wasted years relying on The Surrogacy Group to help them have children.
The Surrogacy Group’s owner has since been arrested by the FBI on federal wire fraud charges. That case is still pending before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
Anyone needing more information about the case should call the Consumer Protection hot line at (410) 528-8662.
