‘Incredibly evil’: Lawsuit alleges Houston company stole money from intended parents for surrogates

HOUSTON – A surrogacy program is affecting people desperate to become parents across the United States and it’s all linked to Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, LLC, or SEAM, which a Harris County lawsuit accuses of having stolen more than 10 million dollars.

The intended parents have no idea what happened to their surrogate mothers’ money and business owner Dominique Side is now trying to “avoid having to deal with the clients she has defrauded,” the lawsuit claims.

A Houston Police Department spokesperson told KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry that the FBI has taken over the investigation.

The FBI has not confirmed or denied the existence of an investigation, which is standard for the agency, but a spokesperson encouraged anyone to report possible federal violations at tips.fbi.gov or by calling their local FBI office.

“We would really like to hear some answers,” said mother-to-be Riane Woods of White Fish, Montana. “It’s super emotional, yes, because we don’t know how we can move forward to have our own child at this point.”

Woods, who is not the plaintiff in the lawsuit but another alleged victim, discovered at age 16 that she would not be able to bear a child.

In her 30s, Woods froze her eggs, she said, and last November she placed $62,000 in an escrow account with SEAM to pay for surrogacy expenses.

“It was money that my husband and I had really saved for, both of our mothers saved for it and donated money to our cause,” Woods said.

Earlier this month, she discovered that her surrogate had stopped getting paid after receiving two emails from SEAM and Side, one of which expressed “significant issues” with a Capital One bank account.

According to the lawsuit, on June 14, SEAM customers received an email from Side that said, “Due to legal action, all operations have been suspended. At this time I am unable to provide further details on this matter.

“We haven’t heard anything since,” Woods said.

Side deleted social media accounts, took down certain business websites and took steps to conceal the business activities of its other entities, according to the lawsuit. It appears that the employees are no longer employed.

“They did everything right and here comes some coward, takes the money and doesn’t explain,” said Houston attorney Lori Hood of the Shackelford Law Firm. “We’re not talking about an inexpensive process. People save for years to be able to achieve this.

Hood’s client, whose surrogate is 26 weeks pregnant, is now struggling to pay her expenses.

“We’re in a time where she needs to go to the doctor more often and everything else and now we’re putting the surrogate under pressure because she doesn’t know she can go to doctor’s appointments , and the baby’s health may be in danger,” Hood said.

Hood’s June 21 complaint alleges fraud and breach of contract, alleging that SEAM and Side defrauded their clients by luring them into a fiduciary relationship in order to steal their escrow funds.

“The website has been cleaned up for contact information and everything else. Personally and the people we hired to find this woman, we can’t find her,” Hood said.

KPRC 2 contacted Side more than a week ago but has not received a response.

Reporter Bryce Newberry knocked on the address listed in Side public records, but a tenant said the previous tenant had moved out earlier this month.

“The sudden collapse of SEAM and the actions taken by Dominique indicate that SEAM and Dominique may have misappropriated funds held up for years in order to finance Dominique’s other business ventures and lavish lifestyle,” the lawsuit claims.

After filing the suit, a Harris County judge granted a temporary restraining order, which froze the company’s assets and all bank accounts belonging to Side and his business partner, which may hold escrow funds.

The attorneys also requested bank statements, but according to the suit, SEAM’s escrow account with Capital One has no funds available and all of the intended parents’ escrow funds were diverted to non-Capital One accounts.

“It’s incredibly evil. It’s despicable. It’s disgusting,” Michael Rodriguez, a third alleged victim from Asbury Park, New Jersey, told KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry. “It just adds to the scrutiny and distrust on a very sensitive issue where we already have so many challenges to parenting in general.”

He and his husband had no problem using SEAM, recommended by a nonprofit enabling LGBTQ+ couples to start a family, for the birth of their first child.

After placing $50,000 in an escrow account with SEAM in January for the birth of their second child, he said they ran into problems.

“Everything went well until the end of May. Our story showed that disbursements were made as usual, (the surrogate) received them. And then we started getting very suspicious emails,” Rodriguez said. “We want to make sure our surrogate receives the money that we have worked hard to protect and that an escrow agent has been entrusted to protect.”

Their surrogate mother is about 20 weeks pregnant and Rodriguez said that has added stress in what should be a joyful time.

“To have trusted the system is a total betrayal,” he said.

As of this writing, Side has not been charged with any crimes.

If you have been affected by the alleged SEAM theft scheme, contact reporter Bryce Newberry at [email protected].