A Texas-based escrow company entrusted with managing money meant to pay surrogates is accused of stealing millions from people who were trying to grow their families in our area and around the globe.
The allegations against Surrogacy Escrow Account Management LLC (SEAM) are laid out in a civil lawsuit filed in a Houston district court.
The company was supposed to manage and disburse dollars to surrogates who are carrying someone else's baby — in many cases people who can't conceive on their own, according to attorneys.
In a hearing held just this week in Houston, attorneys accused the owner of SEAM of using money from the surrogacy escrow account to bankroll her budding rap career and other lavish personal expenses. They say it's left countless families in limbo.
Aaron and Kathryn Melton of Fairfax County say they’re one of those families. After the birth of their son Jackson, a now healthy 5-year-old boy, the Meltons lost their second and third newborn sons due to a rare complication Kathryn experienced during childbirth.
“We have two sons who are no longer with us. James and Noah. James would be 3-and-a-half and Noah would be 2 this September,” Kathryn said.
The couple cherishes the memories of their boys. They had days with James before his death; Noah was stillborn.
Investigations
Investigations by the News4 I-Team
“There's just so much love in our hearts, having held him and loved him and losing him,” Kathryn said. “So, after we lost Noah, it just was not safe for me to continue to carry children.”
After months of healing and soul searching, the couple decided to try again, this time through a surrogate. Aaron described how difficult the decision was for him.
“Took me a longer time to come around to the idea of surrogacy, but eventually I did, and we found a boutique agency that connected us with a wonderful woman who agreed to be our gestational carrier,” he said.
The family's agency recommended they begin adding funds to a surrogacy escrow account to manage payments for the gestational carrier to cover everything from medical appointments and transportation to clothing. They put about $52,000 into SEAM LLC, a highly recommended Houston company run by Dominique Side, who said she was once a surrogate in a video posted on the company’s website.
The couple was alerted that something was wrong after receiving emails from SEAM indicating that there was a brief slowdown in accessing funds. Then things quickly escalated.
The Meltons received a letter from Side last month saying she and her company were the subject of an active investigation by federal authorities. Kathryn’s reaction was disbelief.
“Based off the trauma that I've experienced, I find myself just frozen with shock,” she said. “Like, I don't actually even know where to begin to pick up the pieces of this disaster that's just been presented to us via email.”
In that civil suit filed in a Houston district court on behalf of another customer who said she lost $60,000, Side is accused of running an “elaborate surrogacy escrow scam.” The lawsuit laid out how she allegedly used more than $10 million taken from an estimated 250 families, according to the attorney who filed it. The lawsuit accuses Side of spending the money on business ventures and her “lavish” lifestyle, including financing a custom music studio where she recorded rap and R&B music under the name Dom.
Marianne Robak, the attorney who brought the initial lawsuit, represents more than 20 families so far.
“In this case, we are talking about not just people's money, but their hope for their future families, their happiness,” Robak said. “It's tragic.”
Robak told the I-Team that in cases like this, the money does not disappear, it just changes form. Her plan is to go after those assets, liquidate them and make these families whole.
The I-Team tried contacting Side for comment and received an email that said, in part, "Under advice of counsel, I am not permitted to respond to any inquiries regarding the investigation.”
In a hearing this week in Houston, Side did not appear, but her music studio co-owner Anthony Hall did. He's also named in the lawsuit. In court, Hall said he was a music producer who is also a victim. He said he didn't know from where Side's money was coming and he would cooperate moving forward.
The Texas judge granted an injunction, freezing all remaining assets. The News4 I-Team could not find an attorney for Side, and so far, she has not been criminally charged.
The FBI confirms to News4 that it is also investigating Side and SEAM and needs the public’s help. The agency is asking any potential victims or people who may know potential victims to complete this form.
Despite it all, the Meltons say that they still have hope and they will continue on their surrogacy journey.
“We have decided to continue,” Kathryn said, holding back tears as her husband comforted her. “We wanted the decision to stop to be our choice, not someone else's.”
Reported by Tracee Wilkins, produced by Caroline Tucker, and shot and edited by Jeff Piper.
