Sarasota couple fears they've been scammed by surrogate escrow firm
SARASOTA, Fla. - A married couple from Sarasota, desperate to have a baby, says they're out tens of thousands of dollars.
Kelly Palladino and her husband, Daniel, have been trying for years to start a family. With the help of a surrogate, it's finally happening.
"It's such a huge deal because we've never gotten that far," said Kelly Palladino. "So we're really excited."
But they say the company that is holding the money for their surrogate is not responding to pleas to pay what she's owed.
When the surrogate tried to start drawing expenses from an account being held by a Houston-based escrow firm called "Surrogacy Escrow Account Management," or "SEAM," the company owner, Dominique Side, sent an email saying, "Due to legal action, I regret to inform you that all operations have been placed on hold."
Where is the $60,000 the Palladinos set aside for their surrogate?
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"We got a call from our agency, the surrogacy agency, just to let us know that our surrogate hadn't received payments."
Side's website includes a video message in which she says she has been a surrogate twice, and that she took over the company in order to continue to help intended parents.
"It was a way to continue to help people create and grow their families," she says in the video.
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Texas lawyer Andrew Bluebond says the Palladinos aren't alone. He represents another couple who is out of tens of thousands of dollars, and says he has been called by a half-dozen other families seeking help.
Kelly is in a Facebook group called "SEAM Breach" that has nearly 700 members.
"It's likely in the millions of dollars that could be tied up here or lost," said Bluebond.
Bluebond points out that a lawsuit recently filed in New York by one of SIDE's creditors shows they loaned her more than $600,000 at a high interest rate, and that she owes nearly $1,000,000.
It mentions she owns several other businesses.
"This is not the borrowing that you expect from a healthy business," said Bluebond. "Or, frankly, (from) anyone you'd want to be holding escrow money."
Kelly Palladino showed FOX 13 a Venmo request she made to Side for the money they'd given her. It was denied.
The only thing undeniable is that the baby boy being carried by their surrogate is unaware of all this.
"We have to remember how blessed we are," said Palladino. "This is the blessing."
Several of SEAM's customers say they have reported the company to law enforcement in Texas, along with the FBI, but none can confirm whether there is an open investigation.
In the email to her clients, Side said that staff members have not been implicated in any wrongdoing.
She has not responded to requests for comment, but an outgoing voicemail message says payments will be remitted by the middle of the week, though it's not clear when that was posted.
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