HOUSTON — A Houston-based surrogacy escrow company is now the target of an FBI investigation.
On Wednesday, the FBI’s Houston Division announced that it was “seeking to identify” potential victims of Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, or SEAM.
According to a recent lawsuit, the company is accused of stealing more than $10 million set aside in escrow accounts by expecting parents for their gestational surrogates.
In the June 21 legal filing, attorneys allege SEAM and Dominique Side defrauded clients by luring them into a fiduciary relationship in order to steal their escrow funds. KHOU 11 has learned that Side was served with the lawsuit at her residence just outside of Houston.
While the lawsuit was filed on behalf of one couple, there are hundreds of other victims according to Houston attorney Lori Hood of the Shackleford Law Firm.
“My client’s money is missing, and I know of at least 200 other parents whose money is missing,” she said. “These are people from all over the globe.”
A temporary restraining order requested in the lawsuit was granted by a Harris County judge, freezing SEAM's assets.
Hood told KHOU 11 that her client’s surrogate, who's nearly 30 weeks along, first raised concerns when SEAM stopped responding to her reimbursement requests. In early June, her clients received two emails from SEAM that stated “significant issues” with Capitol One affected payment processing.
However, on June 14, SEAM clients received another email from Side which read: “Due to legal action all operations have been placed on hold. At this time, I am unable to provide further details regarding this matter.”
Hood said her clients did not hear back from SEAM after that. They had more than $60,000 in their SEAM-managed escrow account at the time.
“She had scrubbed her information from all of her websites,” Hood said. “It’s horrible on so many levels right, when you’re dealing with babies, and families wanting babies.”
According to the lawsuit, the sudden collapse of SEAM may indicate that Side was “misappropriating escrow funds for years” in order to bankroll other business ventures and a lavish lifestyle."
Regardless of what happened, Hood said all impacted families just want their money back.
“If you have a business like this and you’ve made promises, and something goes wrong don’t hide, stand up and be accountable, be responsible,” she said.
If you were victimized by SEAM or have any relevant information, you can fill out this form on the FBI’s website.