Woman accused of cheating 23 couples out of $6 million in surrogacy scam, using funds to fuel aspiring rap career

Side is accused of using the stolen funds to finance a “lavish lifestyle,” which includes designer clothing, vacations, and the purchase of a recording studio to support her aspiring music career, according to the Daily Mail. “It's devastating, it's terrifying, you start to feel even more hopeless than you did,” said a SEAM client who turned to surrogacy after a cancer diagnosis derailed her plans for pregnancy.

“We're not rich, most people going through surrogacy right now are not,” she said. “They're working multiple jobs to make this happen and now this money may be gone.”

The FBI has launched an investigation to protect potential victims. Investors are concerned that hundreds of people may have lost money in a worldwide $10 million fraud scheme. The lawsuit filed by the victims claims that Side diverted funds intended for surrogates to fund her other businesses. This included $2.2 million to “bankroll her music career as 'Dom,' a racy rap and R&B singer and music producer.”

“With every layer we peel back in this case, we discover more wickedness and greed,” said attorney Marianne Robak. “All I can think about is how some of these defendants can sleep at night knowing they have taken millions of dollars from innocent people and, in some cases, ruined their victims' chances at having a family of their own. It makes me sick.”

After Side failed to appear in court on Wednesday, a federal judge granted a temporary injunction to freeze her bank accounts and assets. She has also reportedly deleted her social media accounts, and anyone who sends her an email receives an automated response indicating she is part of an “active investigation by federal authorities.”

Attorney Robak has encouraged victims, suggesting they may be able to recover the missing money. “Where money is spent, it is spent on something, whether it be an asset, whether it be property, whether it be an investment,” she explained. ”Those funds can be traced and will be traced and once they are traced and put into a constructive trust for the benefit of the creditors, they can be reverted back into a recovery for them.”