Surrogacy Escrow Company Defrauded Expecting Parents, Claim Mounting Lawsuits
At least 36 families worldwide have filed lawsuits against Dominique Side and her company, Surrogacy Escrow Account Management LLC, aka SEAM. One recently filed lawsuit named 23 families. That lawsuit was initially filed in June in Harris County, Texas, and would grow to include plaintiffs throughout the US and globally including plaintiffs in Italy and France. Other families have taken their own, separate legal action against Side and her company.
Side is accused of stealing millions of dollars through SEAM and defrauding victims who were seeking surrogacy services with her organization. The families who were seeking surrogacy would reach out to potential surrogates they wanted to work with. Once they narrow down the right surrogate, they would enlist the services of Side’s escrow account management company. The hopeful parents would deposit funds that were to be paid out to the surrogate in an escrow account with SEAM. However, over the past couple of months, surrogates and families have begun reporting issues with payments and the availability of account funds.
Even after the babies were born, a number of surrogates and families reported issues with payments or the escrow accounts. As investigations into Side’s escrow management company and her own personal endeavors began to surface, clients of the company began to question whether their escrow funds were misappropriated to help fund Side’s lavish lifestyle and rap career.
The families say they were first alerted about the misappropriation of funds in June when some clients were alerted that their accounts had been put “on hold” due to fraudulent charges that were flagged by Capital One Bank.
Ten days later, the families were alerted again via an email from Side: “Due to legal action all operations have been placed on hold. At this time, I am unable to provide further details regarding the matter.” A recorded message on the company’s voicemail system also alerts clients that due to advice from counsel, Side is unable to provide any additional support to customers seeking support.
Clients of SEAM are said to have deposited anywhere from $13,000 to $100,000 in funds they placed in the escrow accounts. The 23 families listed in the lawsuit say they suffered damages ranging from $12,400 to $90,400.
Bank records highlight that Side transferred over $2.2 million to allegedly launch her “racy rap and R&B singer and music producer” career. Online music videos portray Side’s musical endeavors, yet it is alleged funds from her escrow company were used to fund the videos.
Other allegations say Side used some of the money to fund her designer clothing company, Nikki Green, LLC. Side debuted her clothing line at Fashion Week in Las Vegas, allegedly with funds taken out of the escrow account.
The lawsuit also names two of Side’s acquaintances, Anthony Hall and Helen Yancy, as defendants. The lawsuit accuses these individuals of being involved in other business dealings with Side and intermingling funds that were intended to pay surrogates.
Hall was one of Side's business partners and has testified in court that he was not aware of how Side was allocating money generated through SEAM. However, Hall is accused of using some of the funds to purchase production equipment for his career as a music producer.
Court records show that Hall opened up his own escrow account named Life Escrow. Hall’s company lists the same business address as SEAM. Legal documents reveal that Side and SEAM “may have transferred any escrow funds remaining in SEAM’s accounts” over to Life Escrow. This co-mingling of funds is something customers were not aware of and helped play a role in the way Side was able to misappropriate the funds, the lawsuit alleges.
Side’s associate Yancy has also been embroidered in other cases in which she is being accused of forging signatures to obtain property including five acres of land in her name.
The lawsuit says that Side and the other defendants “have lured families and their surrogates into entering into a fiduciary relationship with SEAM so they could steal their escrow funds” for their benefit.
A Facebook group that was started by former SEAM clients totals over 800 families who have crossed paths with Side and her company. The families say Side’s actions were “nothing short of evil.”
