Brit robbed banks of more than $64,000 to pay for IVF

A boarding school-educated Brit has opened up about how he robbed banks in an effort to pay for IVF in a podcast.

Reed Domingo, 58, who now lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, was living in San Diego when he stole more than $64,000 (£50,000) in cash between June 2000 and July 2001 during numerous bank robberies. 

He was arrested a year later, during a dawn-style raid carried out by FBI agents on the home he shared with his wife Patrice, now 64, daughter Angelique, now 24, and his stepson.

After being tried – and pleading guilty to all counts of robbery – Reed was sentenced to nearly four years in prison, and deported to the UK, where he has had to remain as his criminal record means he is unable to re-enter the States.

Despite campaigning to re-enter the country for almost two decades, he has as yet, been unable to return. His wife and daughter still live in the States, and the trio are reportedly keen to live together as a family.

In his podcast Time with Mr Reed, Reed, who was born and raised in Abergavenny, Wales, to South African parents, talks about his idyllic family life, and how that was shattered one morning when he was arrested.

Describing the early morning hours that day during the first episode of Time with Mr Reed, Domingo 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.’

The couple had met after Reed (whose given name is Ridwaan) moved to San Diego while working for his father’s biotech firm. 

In the episode, he continues: ‘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.’

He went on to explain describe his and Patrice’s ‘crowning achievement’ – their daughter Angelique, who had been conceived following five-years of nine gruelling IVF rounds.

According to Reed, the treatments had cost more than $250,000, and following Angelique’s birth in 1998, the family’s debts spiralled.

Speaking on the podcast, he says: ‘All day I just felt everything closing in on me…I couldn’t sleep…how can I get myself out of this?’

According to Reed Domingo, he knew that bank tellers were told to hand over cash without resistance during roberies

Reed (pictured with his wife Patrice and his daughter Angelique) has described his wife as the love of his life, and their daughter as their crowning achievement

Working as a programmer at a credit union at the time, he was aware that bank tellers were told to hand over cash without resistance when robbed.

So one day, when he found himself short of almost $10,000 to pay for bills, he told himself that the next day, he would commit a robbery.

And so the next day, during his lunch break, Reed picked up a motorcycle helmet (a decoy, so police looked for a motorcyclist and not a driver) and drove to a bank branch on a highway, so he could easily merge into traffic when driving away from the scene.

In a bid to hide his British accent, he printed out a note to hand to the teller, demanding the cash. 

The note said: ‘Stay calm. We are not joking. Follow these instructions and everything is OK. Put $10K into the bag. Use 100s, 50s, and 20s. No fake money, no dye packs.’

Despite telling himself he wouldn’t do it again, Reed admits that he ‘felt wonderful’ after the robbery, and that he had bought himself time. 

In the following months, he committed more robberies, once leaving Angelique sleeping in the car during the crime.

According to the website accompanying the podcast: ‘Over the course of a year, from June 2000 to June 2001, Reed would rob another eleven banks, with mixed (and sometimes hilarious) results. 

‘From exploding dye packs to forgetting his gun and giving a friendly teller a two grand “tip”, Reed’s robberies veer from the slick to the slapstick.’

When the FBI raided Domingo and Patrice’s home in June 2002, they not only found the clothing he’s worn during robberies, but were able to have him identified on photographs taken during the robberies by Patrice.

Reed (pictured) is currently trying to return to the US, where the family reportedly want to live together

He plead guilty to all counts of robbery, and was sentenced to 46 months.

The name of his podcast, Time with Mr Reed, refers to the time he served at Terminal Island prison in Los Angeles, where he acted as a teacher for his fellow inmates, helping them achieve their high school diplomas.

After serving his term, he was deported to the UK in 2005, where he worked as a personal trainer. 

Despite moving to the UK in 2010, Patrice and Angelique did not settle in the area, with his wife returning to the States in 2013, and his daughter following after completing her GCSEs and A-levels.

Reed Domingo is continuing his attempts to return to the US.