Online Lesbian Sperm Bank Owner Gets 16 Months for Fraud
Thursday 10th April 2008
The founder of a website that sold sperm to lesbians who wanted children, the world’s first, has been handed a 16 month jail sentence for fraud and forgery.
Dartmoor Prison. Image by P. Fletcher
John Gonzalez launched the website mannotincluded.com in June of 2002. Lesbian couples would order sperm from the website, which would then arrange for the sperm to be delivered.
The site, however, was hardly a success. After a mere two and a half years in existence, the site went into liquidation with debts over £200,000.
It was the aftermath of the liquidation process that left Gonzalez facing a jail sentence. Officials with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) found that company director had falsified debts, lied to officials and forged documents so that he did not have to hand over assets when the company failed.
Gonzalez told a liquidator that a Cypriot company owned the website and its trademarks, forging a document to try and prove his claim. He also diverted nearly £200,000 for personal use from company accounts, and then invented a £125,000 debt to help the company look more insolvent.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent trading, one of making a false statement on oath, one of using a false instrument and one of misconduct in the course of winding up. In addition to his jail sentence, he is barred from being a director for five years.
BERR Minister Pat McFadden said: "The Government is determined to crack down on cheats who profit by deception.
"When someone lies about their assets they are effectively stealing from honest creditors who are owed money and who can suffer as a result."
The website run by Gonzalez would likely be obsolete after new laws were passed making it illegal to distribute sperm without a license. However, the need may be somewhat reduced as well. A law currently being discussed in Parliament would make it much easier for lesbian couples to receive fertility treatments via the NHS, which had previously been much more difficult.
Dartmoor Prison. Image by P. Fletcher
John Gonzalez launched the website mannotincluded.com in June of 2002. Lesbian couples would order sperm from the website, which would then arrange for the sperm to be delivered.
The site, however, was hardly a success. After a mere two and a half years in existence, the site went into liquidation with debts over £200,000.
It was the aftermath of the liquidation process that left Gonzalez facing a jail sentence. Officials with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) found that company director had falsified debts, lied to officials and forged documents so that he did not have to hand over assets when the company failed.
Gonzalez told a liquidator that a Cypriot company owned the website and its trademarks, forging a document to try and prove his claim. He also diverted nearly £200,000 for personal use from company accounts, and then invented a £125,000 debt to help the company look more insolvent.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to two counts of fraudulent trading, one of making a false statement on oath, one of using a false instrument and one of misconduct in the course of winding up. In addition to his jail sentence, he is barred from being a director for five years.
BERR Minister Pat McFadden said: "The Government is determined to crack down on cheats who profit by deception.
"When someone lies about their assets they are effectively stealing from honest creditors who are owed money and who can suffer as a result."
The website run by Gonzalez would likely be obsolete after new laws were passed making it illegal to distribute sperm without a license. However, the need may be somewhat reduced as well. A law currently being discussed in Parliament would make it much easier for lesbian couples to receive fertility treatments via the NHS, which had previously been much more difficult.
