Transactions Expose Financial Links Between Fertility Centres, Agents In Oocyte Racket
Investigators were examining the communication and financial exchanges between donors, agents, ART banks and fertility centres: Reports
HYDERABAD: Begumpet police said they had established the financial trail linking fertility centres with agents involved in the illegal egg donation racket, with transactions between the centres and agents emerging as a crucial piece of evidence during the five-day questioning of eight accused who were arrested in the case last week. Investigators found that the agents received payments from the centres and subsequently passed on money to the women recruited for egg donation.
The questioning, which began on Wednesday and concluded on Sunday, also helped investigators establish the centres to which the egg collected from the women were supplied, sources said. Four fertility centres including Padmaja Fertility Centre, Narmada Fertility Centre, Oasis Fertility Centre and Fertilica Fertility figured in the FIRs registered by different police stations, including at Malakpet, Filmnagar, Jubilee Hills and Malakpet. Their alleged involvement is being investigated.
The racket involved a network of agents who procured women, accommodate them in hostels and apartments, and facilitated their medical screening and egg donation procedures. The women, many of whom were brought from other states, were paid around ₹30,000 to ₹60,000 for donating their eggs, while the agents handled the recruitment and coordination with fertility centres.
A source said the women were provided accommodation before being taken for medical examinations. The fertility centres paid for thier blood tests, sonograph and other screening procedures. Sonography was used to assess the development, size and maturity of the ovarian follicles and determine their suitability for the procedure.
The women were subsequently administered hormonal injections to stimulate their ovaries and facilitate the development of multiple eggs. Their menstrual cycles were medically synchronised, with injections administered to ensure that the donors underwent the subsequent procedures within the same time frame. The agents coordinated these arrangements by taking the women to the respective fertility centres for screening and further procedures.
Investigators were examining the communication and financial exchanges between donors, agents, ART banks and fertility centres. The questioning of the eight accused also focused on establishing the transaction trail through technical evidence, including payments made by the centres to agents and the subsequent distribution of money to donors, sources said.
With the questioning concluded, the eight accused will be produced before the court and sent to judicial remand on Monday. So far, the investigation has primarily focused on the agents and women recruited as donors. Police will now concentrate on the role of the fertility centres, examining their financial transactions, donor records, medical procedures and links with the agents.
