Texas
Texas judge freezes assets of surrogacy escrow owner
HOUSTON (WWSB) – On Wednesday, a judge in Houston, Texas ordered the assets of Dominique Side, the owner of Surrogacy Escrow Account Management, be frozen.
“It’s sad that she hasn’t said anything because we’re really vulnerable. You know, this process makes you vulnerable,” said Kelly Palladino, an intended parent from Sarasota who invested money into SEAM to have a baby.
Palladino and her husband put over $60,000 into SEAM and previously said that their carrier is now pregnant with the money most likely gone.
Texas-based attorney Marianne Robak is representing over 24 families who are in the same position as the Palladino’s. Those families claim that SEAM stole their money. According to court documents, the sole owner of SEAM is Dominique Side.
“Once those are put into a constructive trust by the court, then we will work towards recovery. Towards dispersing those funds to the intended parents,” said Robak.
Court documents listed the totals for some of the families represented by Robak, ranging anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000. The document also stated “for years, SEAM has been systematically misappropriating millions of intended parents’ escrow funds to wrongfully enrich Dominique and her business partners, Anthony Hall (”Hall”), Fredrick Denson (“Denson”), and Kevin Yancy (“Yancy”).
The documents carried on explaining one point with bank records “show that Dominique transferred more than $2.2 million of the intended parents’ escrow funds to bankroll her music career as “Dom,” a racy rap and R&B singer and music producer. The escrow funds were used to create Dom’s music videos and social media content. The escrow funds to fund Dominique’s lavish trips all over the world and to purchase designer clothing and luxury vehicles.”
“They were used for Dominique’s own life, to fund her lifestyle, to fund her businesses, and grow her businesses, and essentially to hide it from all of the intended families,” said Robak.
Side was not present in the courtroom, however her business partner Hall took the stand.
“She told me there were some issues with some of the funds,” said Hall. “For me, doing the right thing was making sure she owned and was accountable.”
Court documents showed three days after Side sent the final email to intended parents, June 14, 2024, that she could no longer provide comment due to an on-going legal issue, Hall became the sole owner of side’s business Vgn Bae Studios.
Documents also state three months prior to that, on March 2, 2024, “Hall formed a new escrow company called Life Escrow, LLC. Life Escrow, LLC’s principal place of business is located at the same exact business address as SEAM – the building owned by Defendant.”
It carried on explaining “Dominique may have transferred any escrow funds remaining in SEAM’s accounts as of June 14, 2024, if any, to bank accounts in the name of Life Escrow, LLC.”
Palladino previously explained with her carrier now pregnant, and the funds gone, it is going to be difficult.
“We’ll have to go into our 401k’s see what we can do. Work harder! Work more! and try and do what we can but its going to be hard,” said Palladino.
According to court documents, a trial date is set for the week of January 13, 2025.
The FBI posted last month online asking any potential victims of SEAM to come forward as part of an investigation.
Copyright 2024 WWSB. All rights reserved.
NORTH TEXAS – This week’s snow event will end with a “few flurries” during Friday’s morning commute, according to CBS News Texas meteorologist Jeff Ray.
“But roads will have frozen over,” Ray said.
Expect hazardous road conditions in the morning, as it will be “the worst” the roads have been since the event started on Thursday morning, Ray said.
Late in the morning, temperatures will rise above freezing, which will “help drivers get around the Metroplex,” Ray said.
A cold front is expected Friday, he said.
“We are going to have wind chills in the 20s all day,” Ray said. “By nightfall on Friday, temperatures will drop quickly and water will re-freeze on the roads across the evening. This ice will remain until mid-morning on Saturday before the sun and warmer temperatures in the mid-40s clear the roadways.”
CBS News Texas will continue to provide updates as information becomes available.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
South Carolina women’s basketball hosts its SEC home opener against Texas A&M on Thursday evening. Here’s how to watch and what to watch for.
1. Missing Ashlyn
South Carolina announced on Tuesday that junior forward Ashlyn Watkins will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Staley let Watkins tell the team about her injury, and then the coaches have tried to push forward.
“We just keep it moving, try not to harp on it too much because it’s felt,” Staley said. “The more you move on, the more they move on – and our players have to move on. It’s a part of it.”
I broke down how South Carolina will try to replace Watkins here.
Staley said, “Only time will tell” the impact of Watkins’ absence, but it is definitely an opportunity for Maryam Dauda, Adhel Tac, and Sakima Walker to step into a new role.
“Sometimes, when you remove someone as big as Ashlyn from your equation, other people have an opportunity,” Staley said. “And what they do with that opportunity, usually, they do something pretty good with it. We’ll work with them, and we’ll be patient with them.”
2. Spurtability
South Carolina’s strengths this season have been its bench and its transition game. In the first two SEC games, South Carolina pulled away with the second unit on the court getting stops and getting out in transition.
Watkins, with her ability to rim run with or without the ball, was a huge part of that. Her absence isn’t going to stop the Gamecocks from running, especially at home. Even without Watkins, the Gamecocks had 15 fast break points on Sunday.
That quick-strike ability has Texas A&M coach Jni Taylor worried.
“We have a saying around here that says, ‘before you know it,’” Taylor said. “If you keep doing the right thing, keep putting your head down, keep grinding, you look up and before you know it, you’ll be where you’re supposed to be. Likewise, if you don’t come out ready, if you are pouting, if you are feeling sorry for yourself, before you know it, you won’t be where you’re supposed to be. That’s one of those things at South Carolina. They’re a really good team. They play really well at home. We will be, flashback of last year here, we’ll be down 15 to zero before we can bat an eye if we don’t come out ready to go.”
[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]
3. (Dress rehearsal)
Nobody is going to say it out loud, but Thursday’s game is an important tune-up for the Sunday showdown against no. 5 Texas.
Is Tac ready to battle Kyla Oldacre? Can Dauda’s shooting pull Oldacre away from the paint? Is there enough rim protection to keep Rori Harmon from getting easy layups, or do they need to get creative? Who should guard Madison Booker?
It’s a familiar refrain in these parts. Get the game in hand early so you have the fourth quarter to look at some different lineups.
“We let our players play through some stuff, and then you’ve got to look at the scoreboard,” Staley said. “If we’re holding serve on the scoreboard, and we’re up, more lenient to leave them out there to give them some minutes. But, if the scoreboard moves in an unfavorable way, then you got to get combinations out there that’s going to move it the opposite way.”
Texas hosts no. 18 Alabama on Thursday night, so the Longhorns can’t afford to look ahead. But we can.
[USC-Texas WBB: Win tickets, parking]
4. Availability report
Maddy McDaniel and Sakima Walker were both listed as OUT on the Wednesday evening Availability Report.
McDaniel has not played since the holiday break after suffering a concussion. Walker has not played since the Iowa State game and hasn’t been available since the TCU game with an ankle injury. Both have started participating in practice this week but obviously are not yet full-speed.
Vanessa Saidu is listed as OUT for Texas A&M. She has yet to play this season. Amirah Abdur-Rahim is listed as questionable.
Side note: Because Watkins has been declared out for the season, she is not included on the availability report.
Get our new GamecocksW newsletter.
5. Scouting the Aggies
The Aggies are one of the three SEC teams that haven’t reached 10 wins yet. There are a lot of good players on the roster – anyone in the country would take Lauren Ware, Sahara Jones, and Janae Kent – plus a great scorer in Aicha Coulibaly, but the sum of the parts hasn’t been quite where it needs to be.
However, Texas A&M is coming off an upset of then-25th-ranked Ole Miss on Sunday. The win was a 60-58 rock fight in which Ole Miss shot 0-12 in the fourth quarter, but that fits Joni Taylor’s defensive mindset.
‘I think that we’ve been able to show really good spurts defensively of how we can impact the game,” Taylor said. “To hold Ole Miss or any team, for that matter, without a field goal in the fourth quarter is really impressive, and I think it just shows, again, what we are capable of.”
Coulibaly has been a thorn in the Gamecocks’ side before. She scored 32 points and grabbed six rebounds against the Gamecocks in the SEC tournament quarterfinals last season. Coulibaly had no problem getting to the basket and drawing fouls, going 13-15 from the line. And that was with Watkins and Kamilla Cardoso guarding the rim.
“Coulibaly is the one that we haven’t solved playing against her,” Staley said. “I do think they’re better. They’re playing more cohesive. They’ve got some bigs that do what bigs do. They have guards that are a year older, some transfers that have played in our league, so … formidable. And then, they’re coming off a big win against Ole Miss.”
Texas A&M freshman Taliyah Parker was a high school teammate of Tac’s at South Grand Prairie. Parker has appeared in all 14 games this season and averages 5.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.
The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (14-1, 2-0) vs Texas A&M (8-6, 1-1)
When: 5:00 EST, Thursday, January 9
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Watch: ESPN2
Trump set for sentencing in his New York felony conviction
Photos from California wildfires show shocking before and after at historic state parks: 'Devastating'
Ex-Chicagoland police chief wants cop murder to be federal crime: 'Attacks on police officers' up since 2020
Laken Riley Act roils NJ governor’s race as 2 Dems skip roll: ‘The more someone campaigns the less they vote'
Mailman's family breaks silence after father of 2 killed on lunch break
Colorado Rockies game no. 116 thread: Zac Gallen vs José Ureña
Why Marjorie Taylor Greene was ‘kicked out’ of the Freedom Caucus according to Rep. Buck
See it: Tesla crashes into Columbus convention center at 70 mph
Fox News Politics: Georgia the whole day through
Death of missing Oregon girl found in stream ruled homicide
Trump set for sentencing in his New York felony conviction
Mapping the Damage From the Palisades Fire
Appeals court will not block partial release of special counsel Jack Smith's Trump report
‘Much more persecution’: Venezuela braces for Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration
Mondale and Ford’s eulogies written for Carter read by sons at funeral
-
Business1 week agoThese are the top 7 issues facing the struggling restaurant industry in 2025
-
Culture1 week agoThe 25 worst losses in college football history, including Baylor’s 2024 entry at Colorado
-
Sports1 week agoThe top out-of-contract players available as free transfers: Kimmich, De Bruyne, Van Dijk…
-
Politics1 week agoNew Orleans attacker had 'remote detonator' for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
-
Politics1 week agoCarter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country
-
Politics6 days agoWho Are the Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
-
Health5 days agoOzempic ‘microdosing’ is the new weight-loss trend: Should you try it?
-
World1 week agoIvory Coast says French troops to leave country after decades