Peter Thomas Senese, Author and Founder of the I CARE Foundation Charged with Wire Fraud

In 2012, The Healthy Moms Magazine was approached by Peter Thomas Senese requesting that we help with PR for his book, Chasing The Cyclone, and his I CARE foundation.  He claimed to be a child advocate and his mission was to help families who were victims of international child abduction and raise awareness of the issue.  He seemed honest at the time so we agreed to publish a guest article for Senese. We are saddened to hear that on March 31 the FBI charged Senese with of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.


In his guest article Senese explained that his foundation conducted a study which resulted in alarming statistics on international Child Abduction.

...a recent study conducted by the not-for-profit International Child Abduction Research & Enlightenment Foundation (I CARE Foundation) is pointing to the possibility that as many as 200,000 to 225,000 children living in North America will be internationally kidnapped over the next decade, and inconceivably, only 10% of these children are expected to ever come home. And that has nothing to do with the number of attempted international parental child abductions (IPCA), which numbers are expected to far exceed the actual international kidnappings exponentially.

Peter Thomas Senese

I CARE  advertises itself as a “self-funded non-profit organization dedicated to preventing child abduction and trafficking.” Since at least 2013, SENESE allegedly defrauded parents whose children were victims of international abduction by falsely representing that he, working with the worldwide resources of I CARE, could rescue their children and return to them to the United States in exchange for money for his purported rescue operation expenses. SENESE was arrested on March 31, 2015 in Brooklyn, New York.

According to a statement by the FBI, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Peter Senese fed a pack of lies to desperate parents by telling them, among other things, that he and his company could, for a price, locate and recover their internationally kidnapped children. In fact, he could do no such thing, but that didn’t stop him from allegedly repeatedly reaching out to the parents for more money to fund his non-existent rescue mission. This type of alleged fraud that preys on the especially vulnerable and desperate is a top priority for us, and we will work to ensure those who commit these outrageous crimes are held to strict account.”

The Healthy Moms Magazine would love to hear from parents who have been victimised by Senese and his I CARE Foundation. If you were effected in any way we would love to share your story with our readers. You can contact us by filling out our contact form, or leaving us a comment at the end of this article.

The lesson here is if someone requests money up front for services that person can not be trusted. Do not give anyone money until he or she has followed through with what was promised.  For more information on Senese's arrest and the charges visit the official FBI press release Manhattan U.S. Attorney and FBI Assistant Director Announce Charges Against Founder of Non-Profit Organization for Defrauding Parents of Abducted Children.

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