Attorney general to look into baby fraud case

BEAUFORT — South Carolina's attorney general is investigating the case of a Lady's Island woman who received more than $1,000 in cash and donations after telling people she was expecting quintuplets when she wasn't pregnant.

Erika Nieves-Abrigo, also known as Nancy Cantu, was charged last month with obtaining goods under false pretenses.

She and her boyfriend, Juan Salvador Solis, were featured in several local television and newspaper stories, and community members began sending diapers, bottles and cribs.

One couple even threw Cantu a baby shower.

Attorney General Henry McMaster was asked to review the case after prosecutor Duffie Stone said he had a conflict of interest. Stone told The Beaufort Gazette one of his part-time prosecutors is representing Solis in an unrelated civil case.

Police said the couple's story began to unravel when doctors preparing for the rare multiple births told investigators they were worried that Cantu had not been getting regular prenatal care.

Investigators met with the couple to discuss allegations that the pregnancy might be fake, and an ultrasound revealed Cantu was not pregnant, police said.

Solis also has been charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses.

If convicted, they each face a maximum of five years in prison.

Cantu and Solis are both represented by the public defender's office, according to court records. That office did not immediately return a telephone message from the Associated Press on Friday afternoon.