His office was on the twenty-ninth floor of a glass tower on Seventeenth Street. I’d never been there before.
The receptionist called him “Mr. Sterling.” I tried not to react.
Beckett had already called in Marcus Webb.
Marcus has been a forensic financial investigator for twenty-three years. His specialty is exactly this kind of fraud. The kind designed to look like normal paperwork. Transfers that stay under thresholds. Authorizations that use real-looking documents to cover fake permission.
Marcus spent three days on my case.
Then he laid out his findings at Beckett’s conference table with the same economy Beckett uses for everything that matters.
“Four things,” Marcus said.
“One. The transfer amounts were calibrated to the bank’s review threshold. That’s not public information. Someone gave that number to your parents. Most likely a financial adviser who understands the system. That extends the liability chain.
“Two. The verbal consent memo. The digital file was created four days after the first transfer had already gone through. It was written to cover a decision that was already made. Not to authorize one that hadn’t happened yet.
“Three. Trip Johnson received four thousand, two hundred dollars from the second transfer. By direct wire. That makes him a downstream beneficiary of a fraudulent transfer. He’s personally exposed. Regardless of what he claims he knew.
“Four. The three-transfer structure. The timing. The backdated memo. All of it demonstrates planning. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment mistake. This was a scheme with a timeline.”
He closed his folder.
“That matters a great deal for sentencing. If it ever gets that far.”
I looked at Beckett.
“It’s not going to get that far,” Beckett said. “They’re going to give the money back.”
“How sure are you?”
“Very,” he said. “Because I’m going to make the alternative unacceptable. Before they have time to call a lawyer.”
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