Wife of deadbeat doctor indicted

[Margaret]

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) The wife of a man who was one of New Hampshire's most
wanted deadbeat parents has been indicted by a federal grand jury for
conspiring to help him avoid paying child support for his three children.

Dr. Rosa Roofeh, a native of Iran, was arrested Tuesday and is accused of
helping Manchester physician William Willitts flee the country to Central
America, where he set up a medical practice while authorities in this
country searched for him.

In addition to the federal indictment, Roofeh was indicted by a Hillsborough
County Superior Court grand jury this week on four counts of perjury. She is
accused of lying during Willitts' divorce hearing in March 1999.

She testified that she had not talked with Willitts and had not shipped
medical supplies and equipment to him when, according to county prosecutors,
she knew the statements were false.

Willitts, who was caught last spring in Belize, pleaded guilty to failure to
pay support to his three children now ages 23, 21 and 18 and to filing a
false tax return.

According to court records, Willitts diverted hundreds of thousands of
dollars to foreign accounts to avoid paying about $140,000 in child support
and alimony.

He served a 16-month prison sentence for failing to pay in excess of $10,000
in child support and was released several weeks ago. He and Roofeh recently
married.

Willitts paid all the back child support he owed, about $49,000, and has
been paying support for the 18-year-old, who still is in high school.

At a bail hearing Thursday, Judge Arthur Brennan criticized the prosecution
for the way Roofeh was treated.

''This is embarrassing for me, it should be embarrassing to the county,'' he
said, then telling Roofeh, ''I apologize to you for what has happened to
you.''

Bruce Kenna, her lawyer, called the county's actions ''Gestapo tactics,''
but Assistant County Attorney Arthur Gatzoulis said Roofeh was treated the
same as anyone else.

Kenna also accused prosecutors of trying to entrap his client on the perjury
charges. He said the questions she was asked during the divorce hearing had
nothing to do with the issues at hand.

''The government knew where Dr. Willitts was, they were already in Belize
ready to arrest him,'' Kenna said. ''All they were trying to do is put her
in a box and try to get her to say something.''

Asked why Roofeh was indicted so long after the alleged offense, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Jean Weld said much consideration was given to whether to
bring state or federal charges against her.

''We asked if it was of a significant level for federal prosecution,'' Weld
said. ''We took a long hard look and the bottom line was we felt we did have
to address her criminal culpability at both levels.''