Crime and Courts

Ex-San Diego surrogacy consultant pleads guilty to stealing client funds

Lillian Arielle Markowitz admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from escrow accounts set up for her clients to pay for surrogacy services, according to federal prosecutors

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The former owner of a trio of San Diego businesses that provided consulting services to prospective surrogate parents pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing money from her clients.

Lillian Arielle Markowitz, 40, who owned My Donor Cycle, Surrogacy Beyond Borders, and Expecting Surrogacy, admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from escrow accounts set up for her clients to pay for surrogacy services, according to federal prosecutors.

Her plea agreement includes admissions to submitting fraudulent escrow disbursement requests to the escrow company, one of which included a forged client signature, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Nine other clients' funds were not placed into escrow accounts as promised, but were instead deposited into a business checking account she used to pay other business and personal expenses, according to prosecutors.

Markowitz, whom the U.S. Attorney's Office says also went by Lillian Frost, started taking client funds in 2018 when financial problems set in, prosecutors said.

As part of her plea to a federal wire fraud charge, she agreed to pay restitution of at least $389,142 to her former clients. She's slated to be sentenced in April.

Anyone who thinks they might be a victim in this case was asked to contact the FBI San Diego field office at 858-320-1800.

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