How a top-tier surrogacy agency became an FBI target

The FBI is investigating a surrogacy agency in Washington state that shut down suddenly, leaving intended parents out of thousands of dollars and surrogates without compensation.

The FBI is investigating a prominent surrogacy agency that shuttered abruptly earlier this month, leaving desperate parents-to-be out of tens of thousands of dollars and surrogates missing payments as their pregnancies progressed.

The agency’s owner, Megan Hall-Greenberg, 49, effectively disappeared — she deleted her social media accounts, and clients and employees say she hasn’t replied to their messages since Dec. 3.

Last week, FBI agents descended on Hall-Greenberg’s home and the Camas, Washington, headquarters of Surro Connections, which was founded in 2010 and billed itself as a top-tier surrogacy agency with clients around the world.

A neighbor said he saw FBI agents escort someone from the home into a car but wasn’t sure of the person’s identity. Agents have also interviewed Surro Connections’ former employees, who abruptly lost access to their company email and records systems a day before it shut down.

Law enforcement activity outside Megan Hall-Greenberg’s home in Washougal, Wash.Obtained by NBC NewsOne of them, Sarah Shaffer, was the agency’s marketing manager and lead surrogate coordinator. She estimates that some 150 families may have had money in the company’s in-house escrow system, totaling between $2 million and $5 million.