Chapter 4 - The Forensic Audit
By six o'clock the following morning, Elena sat inside the master study of the Moretti estate. Sunlight streamed through tall stained-glass windows, illuminating three laptops and stacks of corporate tax filings.
Elena worked with terrifying speed. She had traded her torn uniform for a soft cashmere sweater and black trousers, her hair pinned back in her signature neat bun.
Dante walked in, carrying two cups of black coffee. "You haven't slept."
"I don't need sleep when there is a trail of fraud to follow," Elena said without looking up from the monitor. "Nathan Vale isn't just broke, Dante. He has been operating a massive Ponzi scheme through Vale Holdings for five years."
Dante raised an eyebrow, leaning against the edge of the mahogany desk. "Explain."
Elena pointed to a line of red numbers on her screen. "Vale Holdings took out loans from four commercial banks using the exact same collateral—three warehouses at the shipping docks. He forged county filing stamps to hide the prior liens. When he couldn't pay the interest, he embezzled twelve million dollars from his wife's charity foundation, the Vale Cultural Arts Trust."
"That is federal wire fraud and grand larceny," Dante noted, his eyes narrowing.
"And Victoria signed six of those illegal transfer authorizations as chief trustee," Elena added, a sharp, cold smile touching her lips. "She used two million dollars of stolen charity money to buy her emeralds and pay off her debts at Atlantic City casinos."
Dante chuckled—a low, dangerous sound. "My legal team would have taken six months and three hundred thousand dollars to uncover this."
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"Your legal team thinks like lawyers," Elena replied, taking a sip of coffee. "I think like an auditor who worked three jobs to pay tuition. I know where people hide money when they think nobody is looking."
She pressed a button, printing fifty pages of evidence. "Send copies to the IRS, the SEC, and the District Attorney. And alert the local news stations before Victoria’s bail hearing at ten."
