Lillian Arielle Markowitz, Stealing Client Funds, California 2024

Former San Diego surrogacy consultant Lillian Arielle Markowitz has admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in client funds from escrow accounts set up to pay for surrogacy-related services. Markowitz, 40, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud charges, admitting that she stole money from her clients by submitting fraudulent requests to the escrow company.

According to her plea agreement, Markowitz owned three businesses – My Donor Cycle, Surrogacy Beyond Borders, and Expecting Surrogacy – through which she marketed herself as a surrogacy consultant to those seeking to become surrogate parents. Beginning in 2018, when Markowitz and her businesses experienced financial distress, she devised a scheme to steal money from her clients by submitting fraudulent requests to the escrow company.

Markowitz admitted to submitting four fraudulent escrow disbursement requests from the escrow accounts of two couples, one of which included a forged client signature. She also defrauded nine additional clients by falsely promising their funds would be deposited into an escrow account and that they would be accessed only to pay for expenses related to their respective surrogacy journey.

As a condition of her plea, Markowitz has agreed to make restitution of at least $389,142.00 to her former clients. Markowitz is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., by District Judge Todd W. Robinson.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California announced the guilty plea in a statement, saying, ‘The path to parenthood through surrogacy can be fraught with emotional and financial challenges. This defendant selfishly exploited vulnerable clients who were striving to fulfill their dream of becoming parents.’

The FBI San Diego field office is urging anyone who may be a victim in this case to contact them at (858) 320-1800.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey D. Hill and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark W. Pletcher.

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