HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A Harris County judge last week ordered a Houston businesswoman to pay a little more than $1 million to 37 families after she failed to respond to their lawsuit seeking damages.
The plaintiffs say they gave money to Dominique Side’s company, SEAM or Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, believing that it would go to the women bearing their children.
Instead, an attorney representing the families says Side diverted at least $12 million to other ventures, including millions of dollars to boost her rap career.
Marianne Robak said her clients account for just a fraction of the families from around the world who say they were defrauded by Side.
“Some of them had surrogates that were currently at the time pregnant with their babies, and they had no way to pay for their medical care,” Robak said.
Since Side’s co-defendant, Anthony Hall, did respond to the lawsuit, Robak said the case will have to head to trial before any money is paid out. She expects to get the full $1.7 million her clients are seeking when all is said and done.
So far, she said she’s successfully frozen assets, including real estate and music equipment, to satisfy any judgment.
“Once these judgments become final, we will be able to go after those assets, liquidate them, and help these families become whole,” Robak said.
She expects a trial to take place next summer.
An FBI investigation remains ongoing.
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