I was in £50,000 debt after my wife had nine rounds of IVF… so I did something drastic | The Sun
A BRIT has revealed the drastic decision he made when he was left £50,000 in debt after his wife was forced to have nine rounds of IVF.
Reed Domingo, 58, was living in the US at the time, and felt he had nowhere else to turn.
So the boarding school graduate turned to crime – and started robbing banks to pay back the bills.
The dad-of-one revealed he was living in San Diego when he stole more than $64,000 USD – or £50,000 – between June 2000 and July 2001.
Domingo, who now lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, planned and undertook more than 10 bank robberies in that time.
He met wife Patrice, now 64, when he moved from the Wales to the US in the late 1980s.
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He described daughter Angelique, now 24, as their "crowning achievement" – she had been conceived after five years of gruelling IVF rounds.
Everything felt perfect, Domingo explained: "We had a beautiful Cape Cod style house that was painted yellow, and set in six and a half acres surrounded by 600 orange trees with 360 degree ocean and mountain views of Southern California."
But it was those IVF rounds that left the family deep in debt after Angelique was born in 1998.
He told This Morning: "It was supposed to be one time, and that was supposed to be it.
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"Each round costs about approximately $15,000 – at least it was in '92."
Domingo said he was desperately looking for a way to pay back the $250,000 USD they owed – so turned to crime.
Speaking on his podcast Time with Mr Reed, where he recalls the time he spent in prison for the robberies, Domingo said: "All day I just felt everything closing in on me…I couldn't sleep…how can I get myself out of this?"
The dad worked as a programmer at credit union at the time he knew that bank tellers were told to hand over the cash in a robbery.
So when he found himself short of $10,000, he made the horror call to rob a bank.
He came up with multiple plans to get away with the crime – including writing a note demanding cash to hide his British accent.
Domingo made it safely away with the $10,000in cash, and despite telling himself it was a one-time thing – he robbed another 11 banks.
It was supposed to be one time, and that was supposed to be it.
He said: "It's absolutely crazy, I never thought I would find myself in that situation.
"This was obviously in two, three years of heavy pressures, financial pressures that I was bearing."
But one year later in 2002, he was arrested in a dawn-style raid carried out by FBI agents.
The cops swarmed the home he shared with Patrice, Angelique and his stepson.
During his podcast, Domingo recalled that morning his world was shattered.
He says: "I really had a lot to be thankful for. Snuggled up next to me was the love of my life: my gorgeous California blonde Patrice.
"We'd met 15 years earlier and been married for nine. I honestly would say I was absolutely married to my soulmate."
Domingo spent nearly four years behind bars for the crimes – which he pleaded guilty to – then was deported to the UK.
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Despite endless campaigns to re-enter the US, he has been unable to return due to his criminal record.
However, Patrice and Angelique still live there, and Domingo is keen to see the family reunite.
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