PANAMA CITY — A woman is charged with felony adoption deception after police in Florida said she scammed a married couple out of $17,000 during an adoption process.
Ny-Quasia Mazzola was wanted by the Panama City Police Department in connection with the scam, according to authorities.
She was arrested by St. Petersburg police officers on October 22 on a warrant issued out of Panama City, the city’s police department said in an October 25 news release.
Her attorney information was not listed in court records the afternoon of October 26.
Mazzola’s arrest stems from a Panama City woman accusing Mazzola of defrauding her and her husband while they worked with her through a licensed adoption agency, according to police.
The couple had agreed to help Mazzola financially, specifically by paying for her living expenses “as part of the adoption plan,” when she had been pregnant, police said.
Mazzola, according to authorities, was paid more than $17,000 for housing, transportation and other costs.
The St. Petersburg Police Department has previously investigated Mazzola, who is suspected of a similar, previous scam involving a different adoption agency.
In 2023, Mazzola is accused of contacting several adoption agencies and soliciting money while lying about wanting to have her child adopted, according to police.
The Panama City Police Department encourages people and adoption agencies to report any fraud suspicions.
If anyone has information about Mazzola scamming the Panama City couple, authorities are asking for tips at 1-850-872-3100.
By JULIA MARNIN/McClatchy News
Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.
