Another North Texas couple comes forward as victims of an alleged surrogacy security deposit 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 stepping forward.

A Houston-based company is being accused of withholding funds for surrogacy programs and using the money for other business 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.

“We then did three transfers over the next two years,” Katie explained. “The first one didn’t work and I had two miscarriages.”

They then turned to surrogacy.

“People only really turn to surrogacy after they’ve been through trauma,” says Katie. “No one chooses surrogacy outright.”

To make things easier, Katie’s friend Vicky Ursi offered to be her surrogate mother.

“Vicky has been our friend for over 10 years,” Katie said. “Her husband officiated our wedding. She was a bridesmaid.”

John and Katie used SEAM, a Houston-based company that handles escrow accounts for surrogates, to facilitate payments to their surrogate.

“It was all very easy,” Katie said. “They were very responsive.”

Until… it wasn’t easy.

“It was Vicky who saw some conversations with surrogates on social media, saying that we hadn’t received our payments and that they weren’t responding anymore, and this is very different,” she recalled.

Now, SEAM owner Dominique Side is apparently missing and with him money belonging to hundreds of clients.

The FBI is investigating.

Dozens of alleged victims filed suit. A judge granted a temporary restraining order freezing Side’s bank accounts.

Now, after reviewing bank records, lawyers claim Side used more than $10 million of the company’s money for his 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 mother, Ursi will lose $6,000.

“But at one point, our account had over $36,000,” Katie said. “And we were lucky enough to have SEAM come through all of this at the end of our trip, when our account only had $6,000. So that $6,000 was 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 itself this way because many of the alleged victims are in the early stages of surrogacy.

Last week, FOX 4 interviewed the Climers family. The Frisco couple lost $45,000 just weeks before their frozen embryo transfer. Now, after five miscarriages, surrogacy could be in jeopardy.

“These people have been struggling for years. And all of a sudden, they’re so close to having a family and you think everything’s fine,” Katie said. “And then the money runs out and now they can’t afford the surrogate.”

The FBI says it is still investigating and is asking anyone who may be a victim to come forward.