Texas

Texas judge freezes assets of surrogacy escrow owner

Published

2 years ago

July 19, 2024

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.

Source link

Texas

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

Published

11 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

The granddaughter of Dr. Opal Lee, famously known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” was in Austin Tuesday to advocate for the inclusion her grandmother in Texas’ Juneteenth curriculum.

Dr. Lee is nearly 100 years old and lives in Fort Worth. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024 and was by President Biden’s side when he made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.

“I want to petition for her to be a required person to study Juneteenth,” said granddaughter Dione Sims. “People that have to do with freedom, liberty, and unity; she’s the embodiment of that. Helping to get Juneteenth as a national holiday, I think deserves to be mentioned.”

Sims testified in front of the State Board of Education Tuesday night. A final decision is expected in June.

Lee, born in 1926, played a crucial role in making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The North Texas icon walked two and a half miles every Juneteenth to symbolize the two and a half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they were free, after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2016, she walked from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness.

She didn’t participate in the 2025 walk after being hospitalized.

Lee has also been honored with a Barbie doll that celebrates her advocacy as part of its Inspiring Women collection.

Sims previously discussed expanding Lee’s walk across all 50 states, preserving her grandmother’s legacy with a walk in one city in each state.

In:

Source link

Texas

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Published

23 hours ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Tensions are rising between the United States and Iran, as a deadline from President Donald Trump fuels concerns about potential military action.

Just hours before President Trump’s deadline for Iran to accept a deal or face military consequences, Iranian Americans in North Texas feared for their relatives on the ground, saying the focus should stay on the people of Iran.

“We’re in a wartime, so everyone’s worried and following the news,” said Homeira Hesami, the chairwoman for the Iranian American Community of North Texas. “The internet’s still being down, you know, we don’t have a very secure way to communicate with our family and friends back home, so sometimes, you know, they may be able to call out, but it’s very patchy.”

Tuesday, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, following similar threats he made on Easter Sunday. TCU Political Science Professor Ralph Carter offered this perspective on the potential loss of life.

“In the worst-case scenario, President Trump carries out massive attacks against civilian targets, killing thousands or even millions of people, then I think Congress has to act,” said Carter.

Carter added that targeting an entire civilization could amount to a war crime and raises serious questions about Mr. Trump’s legal authority. He said this also shakes up the U.S.’s relationships with its allies.

“I do think that Iran will survive, whatever happens,” Carter said. “I think the Iranian people will be united in a rally around the flag phenomenon to defend their homeland against an aggressor, and I think, again, this is one of those things where a weaker power outlasts a stronger power, because the stronger power gets tired of the price they have to pay to try to get a victory.”

Hesami believes change in Iran must come from the Iranian people, not through foreign intervention.

“War has proven that sometimes it is not the solution, and the solution is relying on the Iranian people and their organized resistance,” she said.

Less than two hours before his deadline for Iran to either cut a deal with the U.S. or face massive strikes on its power plants, Mr. Trump said he agreed to a “double sided CEASEFIRE” with Iran.

“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

He said the ceasefire, which he agreed to at Pakistan’s request, was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”