A Texas surrogacy company is accused of stealing millions of dollars from intended parents to fund the owner’s lavish lifestyle and musical ambitions.
Dominique Side, the owner of a surrogacy company in Houston, diverted roughly $16 million to buy designer clothing, luxury vehicles, lavish trips abroad, homes in Houston and New Orleans and membership in an exclusive celebrity club, according to a lawsuit filed this month in Harris County. Side also used money “to fund his music career” as “Dom,” a rap and R&B singer and music producer, according to the lawsuit.
Court documents describe how the expectant parents were thrown into chaos when the company abruptly closed without explanation in June. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of about 30 people, according to court documents.
He The FBI is investigating the companySurrogacy escrow account management, and asked clients to contact the company. It’s unclear how many people are affected, but Houston-area media outlets have reported the number could be as high as several hundred. A Facebook group called “SEAM breach” has grown to nearly 800 members, the lawsuit says.
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Because surrogacy costs tens of thousands of dollars, agencies typically recommend that parents hire a third-party escrow company to hold the money and make payments to the surrogates, essentially acting as a middleman.
SEAM had operated as a trust for almost a decade without problems, according to reports from the Houston ChronicleBut in early June, customers noticed that payments were not being made. After sending a series of emails to assure them that the problems were due to banking technical issues, Side sent a brief announcement on June 14 saying that SEAM had ceased all operations “due to legal action” and disappeared.
In June, a Harris County judge ordered SEAM assets frozen.
Neither the owner, Side, nor company representatives responded to phone calls or emails seeking comment Thursday. An email from The Dallas Morning News to the company triggered an automated response. Citing an “active investigation by federal authorities,” Side said in the email that he had been advised by counsel not to respond to inquiries about the investigation.
“My sincere apologies for the lack of response,” the email said.
Court documents have not yet listed an attorney for Side, and his social media accounts, once filled with photos of his recent travels and appearances, have been deleted since the company closed.
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SEAM’s sudden closure has left prospective parents and surrogates trying to navigate extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Surrogates who are carrying a child that is not theirs must figure out how to pay for prenatal care, the lawsuit says. Some prospective parents have begun to GoFundMe bells To cover expenses.
Last month, Chris and Katelyn Kettmann, whose surrogate was 22 weeks pregnant, told the Chronicle They had little financial backing. “This has taken away pretty much everything we had, plus what our friends and family had given us,” Chris said. “We don’t know where the money will come from.”
Court documents detail how Side spent the money. Side used $2.2 million of the escrow funds to fund her career as a singer and producer, including music videos, lavish travel, designer clothing and luxury vehicles, according to the suit. She also used the funds to pay for membership at Soho House, which describes itself as a “club for creatives” with locations around the world.
The escrow money was also used to fund real estate investments, according to the documents, including a 5-acre plot of land for $575,000 and a home in Houston for $433,000 and a customs office in New Orleans for $300,000.
Another $6.2 million of the parents’ money went to fund a vegan music production business called Vgn Bae Studios with Anthony Hall, a Houston-area musician.
Hall could not be reached for comment, but told the Los Angeles Times in June, who was Side’s business partner in the music studio but not in the surrogacy company.
“I would like to have answers,” Hall told the Times. “Everything was going well until he stopped going.”
In a 2022 article interview with Trip to HoustonSide said she owned a vegan supermarket in Houston and was launching a vegan luxury fashion brand.
“My aspirations have evolved with each new venture, but there is a common thread running through all of my companies,” she told the publication. “Each one is firmly based on a foundation of compassion – for others, for myself, and for the planet.”
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