Aspiring rapper is accused of bilking 23 couples out of $6 MILLION in major surrogacy scam to fund her lavish lifestyle and love of fast cars
Dozens of couples have witnessed their dreams of becoming a parent go up in smoke after an aspiring rapper plundered millions of dollars intended for their surrogates.
Twenty-three couples from across the US are suing Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management (SEAM) after each lost up to $100,000 from a trust pilfered by owner Dominique Side.
But investigators fear that hundreds may have lost money in a worldwide $10 million fraud with victims reported from as far afield as Egypt, China, and France.
Side is accused of using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle of designer clothing and lavish vacations, while purchasing a recording studio in a bid to become a music star.
'It's devastating, it's terrifying, you start to feel even more hopeless than you did,' said SEAM client AnnaMaria Gallozzi who chose surrogacy after being diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2019.
Dominique Side the owner of Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management is accused of defrauding dozens of prospective parents to fund her rap ambitions
AnnaMaria Gallozzi opted for surrogacy after being diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2019 and is 'terrified' that the alleged fraud may have cost her the dream
'We're not rich, most people going through surrogacy right now are not.
'They're working multiple jobs to make this happen and now this money may be gone.'
Kelly Palladino opted for surrogacy after struggling to conceive because of multiple autoimmune diseases.
She and husband Daniel from Sarasota in Florida found a surrogate last fall and deposited $60,000 after arranging to pay her through Side's company.
But it was little more than a month before the surrogate alerted them that the payments had stopped.
Kelly said that Side repeatedly made excuses before refusing to take their calls.
'We thought this would be a great way to build our family,' Kelly told Fox13.
'She did this knowing what we go through. It's not an easy process and what's coming out is just – I never would have thought.'
Arielle Mitton from Bellingham, Washington, had $38,000 in the account when payments to her surrogate in Indiana stopped in May.
'When people come to surrogacy, it's not a choice,' she said.
Side allegedly funneled $2.2 million of the parents' money to 'bankroll her music career as 'Dom,' a racy rap and R&B singer and music producer'
Arielle Mitton (left) from Bellingham in Washington, with surrogate Tena Doan, had $38,000 in the account when payments to her surrogate stopped in May
Kelly Palladino, with husband Daniel, opted for surrogacy after struggling to conceive because of multiple autoimmune diseases but payments from her account stopped after a month
'It's not like, 'Oh, this is my first choice. I want to do this.' It's like, 'I don't really have another option'.'
'It feels premeditated to me,' she told Click2Houston.
'How can someone have millions of dollars disappear without some sort of plan?'
The FBI has launched an investigation and set up a website for potential victims while nearly 800 people have joined a Facebook group SEAM Breach set up to help victims.
In a 2022 interview with Voyage Houston, Side called herself a 'serial entrepreneur', and a 'mom to four incredible individuals'.
'One common thread runs through all my businesses: each is based firmly on a foundation of compassion,' she said. 'For others, for myself and for the planet.'
But the lawsuit claims that she used money intended for surrogates to finance her other businesses, along with $2.2 million to 'bankroll her music career as 'Dom,' a racy rap and R&B singer and music producer'.
'With every layer we peel back in this case, we discover more wickedness and greed,' said attorney Marianne Robak.
'All I can think about is how some of these defendants can sleep at night knowing they have taken millions of dollars from innocent people and, in some cases, ruined their victims' chances at having a family of their own. It makes me sick.'
Side, 44, filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and a court seized and sold land owned by SEAM in 2022 over unpaid property taxes.
A federal judge granted a temporary injunction to freeze her bank account and assets after she failed to appear for a hearing on Wednesday.
'It's devastating, it's terrifying, you start to feel even more hopeless than you did,' said Gallozzi, from Austin in Texas.
'A lot of people going through this has had fertility struggles for years, and this was their last chance to be a parent.'
Side appears to have deleted most of her social media accounts and people sending messages to her email address receive automated responses telling them she is subject to an 'active investigation by federal authorities'.
It goes on say that she is, on the advice of counsel, 'not permitted to respond to any inquiries'.
'With every layer we peel back in this case, we discover more wickedness and greed,' said attorney Marianne Robak, but she urged victims not to give up hope
'She knows what she's doing. She knows it's wrong,' said surrogate Haley Rexroat from Iowa.
'She knows she's messing with a lot of people who don't deserve it, they've already been through so much to get to this point.'
Robak urged victims not to give up hope of recovering their missing money.
'Where money is spent, it is spent on something, whether it be an asset, whether it be property, whether it be an investment,' she said.
'Those funds can be traced and will be traced and once they are traced and put into a constructive trust for the benefit of the creditors, they can be reverted back into a recovery for them.'
But that is little consolation to those whose dreams of parenthood have been jeopardized.
'People are just desperate at this point,' Mitton said. 'She just needs to do what's right.'
