Fraud & Safety
A chronological record of court proceedings in United States v. Hall-Greenberg et al., the federal wire fraud and money laundering case arising from the collapse of Surro Connections.
An indictment is a formal accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Surro Connections was a surrogacy agency that operated out of Camas, Washington. On December 5, 2025, the company abruptly ceased operations, leaving more than 400 intended parent clients and more than 170 surrogates, at least 70 of whom were pregnant, without support or access to escrow funds. On August 26, 2026, a federal grand jury returned a 14-count indictment. What follows is a chronological record of court proceedings, according to court filings reviewed by FamilyVale.
TimelineSurro Connections abruptly ceases operations. Hall-Greenberg sends an email to intended parents and surrogates stating the company is shutting down immediately due to "financial and operational difficulties" and that it has "no ability to provide any further performance pursuant to any contractual or other Company obligations." According to earlier news reports, Hall-Greenberg deleted her social media accounts and stopped responding to clients and employees as of December 3.
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of California returns a 14-count indictment against Megan Hall-Greenberg, Heather Morgan, and Jeffrey Greenberg, charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity (Case No. 4:26-cr-00427-AMO, Oakland Division). No bail is set; defendants receive summons to appear.
Hall-Greenberg's court-appointed counsel files an application requesting that the government pay for her travel expenses to appear in court.
The court denies Hall-Greenberg's application for government-funded travel expenses. The basis for the denial is not detailed in the public docket.
Arraignment before Magistrate Judge Ajay S. Krishnan. All three defendants plead not guilty to all 14 counts. Bond is set: Hall-Greenberg at $50,000, Greenberg and Morgan each at $25,000. All defendants are required to surrender their passports and travel is restricted to specified federal districts. Morgan is additionally permitted to travel to Idaho for family visits. The case is assigned to the Honorable Araceli Martinez-Olguin, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California.
The court grants stipulated protective orders as to all three defendants (Dkt. 25, 26, 27), according to court filings reviewed by FamilyVale. Protective orders govern how sensitive material produced in discovery may be used and shared between the parties.
The parties file and the court grants stipulations regarding appearance at the October 5 status conference, according to court filings reviewed by FamilyVale. Jeffrey Greenberg and Megan Hall-Greenberg are permitted to waive personal appearance (Dkt. 30, 33); Heather Morgan is permitted to appear remotely by video (Dkt. 34).
The clerk issues notice moving the status conference to 2:30 p.m. in Oakland, Courtroom 5, before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin (Dkt. 36), according to court filings reviewed by FamilyVale.
Status conference held before Judge Martinez-Olguin. The proceeding lasts nine minutes. Heather Morgan appears remotely by video; the appearances of Hall-Greenberg and Jeffrey Greenberg are waived. No defendant is in custody. The government appears through Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ivana Djak and David Ward. Defendants appear through counsel James Vaughns, August P. Gugelmann, and Shaffy Moeel. The court sets a further status conference for November 30, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. and directs counsel to submit a stipulation to exclude time under the Speedy Trial Act by October 9, 2026 (Dkt. 37), according to court filings reviewed by FamilyVale.
Note: The Speedy Trial Act
The Speedy Trial Act requires a federal criminal trial to begin within 70 days of indictment or arraignment, but the parties can jointly ask the court to exclude periods from that count. A stipulation to exclude time typically signals that discovery is ongoing and that neither side expects to go to trial in the near term. It is routine in complex fraud cases and is not an indication of how the case will resolve.
The next scheduled court date is a status conference on November 30, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Martinez-Olguin in Oakland. FamilyVale will continue reviewing public court filings and reporting on significant developments as they occur.
Federal criminal cases of this complexity often take 12 to 24 months from indictment to resolution.
Related CoverageAn indictment is a formal accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Court filings referenced in this article are public documents available through PACER (Case No. 4:26-cr-00427-AMO, Northern District of California, Oakland Division).
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