More than a dozen new families are now suing Houston-based Surrogacy Escrow Account Management and owner Dominique Side, nearly two months after the escrow firm suddenly collapsed and allegations surfaced that Side stole the money to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A total of 36 families have sued in Harris County from the west coast to Milan, Italy.
Lawyers for intended parents claim Side misappropriated millions meant for surrogates and used it to bankroll her music career as a racy rap and R&B singer.
Late Tuesday, lawyers added a new defendant in the case: Helen Yancy.
Yancy is the new owner of a piece of land apparently bought using money from the families hoping to grow.
Background on the property
It’s still unclear why SEAM purchased the five-acre property in northeast Houston in 2018, which is now estimated to have a value of $575,000.
When Side’s business suddenly collapsed in mid-June, Harris County Real Property Records show SEAM transferred the property to Anthony Hall, who is a music producer and Side’s longtime business partner.
“She told me that there were some issues with some of the funds,” Hall testified at a hearing last month.
At the time, Harris County Judge Jeralynn Manor had temporarily frozen assets connected to SEAM, Side, and Hall, including the piece of property. At the hearing, Judge Manor ordered the assets permanently frozen until the litigation is complete.
But during the hearing on July 17, in the exact same Harris County building on Caroline Street except a few floors away, the deed to the property transferred again, this time to Yancy, lawyers wrote in new documents filed Wednesday.
Finding Helen Yancy
KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry visited Yancy’s address listed on the deed in Texas City on Wednesday evening but no one answered the door.
Reached by phone, she initially didn’t want to talk about the property or the deed, but she soon called back.
“How did you get my phone number?” Yancy asked.
She then had a lot to say about the property and the deed.
“The land was payment for my consulting services,” Yancy said. “I got them millions of dollars in loans.”
Yancy explained she was a paid contractor and provided a service. She said there was an understanding she would be paid money at some point for her services, but that never happened, which is when there was an agreement made about the piece of property. She couldn’t remember when that happened.
According to court records, Hall told lawyers “(Yancy) told him she was just trying to help him.”
Yancy described Hall as her “lover” for years and said he “absolutely” still is.
“I’m in love with him, he’s such a sweetheart,” she said. “That was my payment for, you know, I was his lover and Dominique was his lover as well.”
Asked to describe what she meant by lover, Yancy said, “Just what I said. Just what the term means.”
According to court records, Hall told lawyers for the intended parents he didn’t sign off on the deed transfer to Yancy on July 17 and that Side’s signature on the document appeared to be fake.
Yancy said during the 13-minute phone call with KPRC 2 that Side and Hall signed the deed.
“If they say anything other than, they’re lies,” Yancy said. “Read the deed. Everything is there.”
An attorney for Hall has not responded to KPRC 2′s request for comment.
Yancy said she doesn’t have anything to hide and doesn’t like being caught up in the case.
“It’s a shocker,” she said. “I don’t even know why I’m wrapped up into this whole piece of bull**** with their thieving ass**.”
She expressed condolences for the families that are now out tens of thousands of dollars and called it “unfortunate.”
Side, who hasn’t responded to any of KPRC 2′s requests for comment nor appeared in court, is apparently still in touch with Yancy.
“I’ll put it like this. We are in constant communication and they’ll pay back the money to the families,” Yancy said. “I’m confident and I am hopeful that they’re going to pay back all of the funds."
Yancy described Hall, “a churchgoing guy,” as a “good person” with a “good heart” who may have been “tricked” or “scammed” by his business partner.
“I do think that there are other individuals that are actually involved that may not even have been discovered yet,” she added.
What comes next
Lawyers hope any of the money taken from the escrow account and used for other things that still exist, like the property, can eventually get back to the families.
Since the deed transfer happened while assets have been frozen, the lawyers have filed a motion for contempt and accuse SEAM, Side, Hall and Yancy of violating the judge’s order.
A show cause hearing will have to be scheduled, when they will be required to defend the property transfer, and Judge Manor will have to decide the seriousness of the violation and a range of sanctions.
Lawyers have also asked Judge Manor to put the property back in Hall’s name and block it from future deed transfers.