Another North Texas couple comes forward as victims of alleged surrogacy escrow scam
DALLAS - As the number of potential victims of an alleged surrogacy escrow scam grows, another North Texas couple who lost thousands of dollars is coming forward.
A Houston-based company is being accused of holding funds for surrogate pregnancies and using that money on other businesses and personal expenses.
The road to starting a family was long and bumpy for John and Katie Lynch.
After many failed attempts, the Dallas couple tried in-vitro fertilization.
"And then we did three transfers over the next couple of years," Katie explained. "The first one didn’t take, and I had two miscarriages."
Then, they turned to surrogacy.
"You really only end up at surrogacy after you have gone through trauma," Katie said. "No one chooses surrogacies straight out the door."
To make things easier, Katie’s friend, Vicky Ursi, offered to be their surrogate.
"Vicky has been our friend for over 10 years," Katie said. "Her husband officiated our wedding. She was a bridesmaid."
John and Katie used Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management," or SEAM, to facilitate payments to their surrogate.
"Everything was so easy," said Katie. "They were very responsive."
Until — it wasn’t easy.
"It was Vicky who had actually seen some chatter with the surrogates on social media, saying we didn’t get our payments, and they’re not responding anymore, and this is very different," she recalled.
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Surrogacy scandal: Houston escrow company owner allegedly made off with $10M+
A lawsuit alleges Dominique Side used the money meant for surrogates on personal expenses, including a lavish music recording studio, her music career and much more.
Now, SEAM owner Dominique Side is seemingly missing and so is the money belonging to hundreds of clients.
The FBI is investigating.
Dozens of alleged victims filed a lawsuit. A judge granted a temporary restraining order which froze Side’s bank accounts.
Now, after reviewing bank records, attorneys claim Side used more than $10 million dollars of company money for her personal life, including a music recording studio and much more.
"It’s put a lot of people in really stressful situations," Ursi said.
As a surrogate, Ursi is out $6,000.
"But at one time, our account had over $36,000," Katie said. "And we just happened to be fortunate that SEAM went through all of this at the end of our journey when our account was only down to $6,000. So that $6,000 is gone."
The couple now has a healthy baby boy: John Robert Lynch.
"We’re lucky in a lot of ways," John said.
The Lynch family considers themselves because many alleged victims are in the early stages of surrogacy.
Last week, FOX 4 interviewed the Climers family. The Frisco couple is out $45,000 just weeks before their frozen embryo transfer. Now, after five miscarriages, surrogacy might be in jeopardy.
"These people have been struggling for years. And then all of a sudden, they’re so close to getting their family, and you think everything’s great," Katie said. "And then the money’s gone, and now they can’t pay the surrogate?"
The FBI says it’s still investigating and asking anyone who’s a victim to come forward.