At My Sister’s Wedding, She Introduced Me As The Family Embarrassment…
The Consultant Contract
After four years, I sold the store for a profit that allowed me to graduate with a master’s degree and grow my profession. It was a complete stranger who decided to assist me when he had no motive to do so, and that is how all I have done began.
I’d forgotten about Reed Furniture. It had been one of my first clients when I was just starting out, still idealistic, still thinking hard work and helping people would earn me respect.
“When your sister introduced you at the wedding,”
Harrington continued,
“when she called you the embarrassment of the family, I recognized your name immediately.”
At that precise moment he opened the portfolio and uttered the words,
“Ethan Grant, the man who saved my life.”
I did not fire Isabelle as a result of the statements that she made on Saturday night.
For the past 10 months, I have been researching her and gathering information about her. It has been brought to our attention that she has been fabricating expense reports, taking credit for work that junior associates have already completed, and using business email for engaging in questionable personal activities.
Someone strewn documents across my desk including spreadsheets, printouts from emails, and highlighted sections that revealed irregularities in the hours that were reported, fabricated client meetings, and costs that were attributed to the company for personal things. The wedding not only confirmed something that I already knew about her personality, but it also confirmed something else.
According to Harrington, the pattern was discovered seven months ago by Lindsay Evans, who has worked in corporate forensic accounting for 24 years. Evans is credited with first discovering the pattern.
The assertion was made that Isabelle had successfully negotiated a contract with Patterson Industries. During the course of the negotiations, in all honesty, Adam Foster, a junior analyst, was the one who was in charge of negotiating the deal.
Additionally, Isabelle accepted the commission and added her name to the final papers. Both of these actions were taken by Isabelle; $50,000 in total amount.
The papers were the sole focus of my attention. An additional factor to take into consideration is the fact that she has been writing off her personal expenses as business expenses.
Over the course of 20 months, she made more than $85,000 in fraudulent charges. These charges included subscriptions to gyms, apparel, and a trip to Turks and Caicos that she claimed was for the purpose of client development.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Our subsidiary companies are currently undergoing a process of reorganization.
As a result of the fact that I have appointed you to the position of consultant, there is a total of $45 million in revenue generated by three different companies. At that precise moment, he slipped a contract across the desk and said,
“I need someone I can trust, someone with integrity.”
He then proceeded to say,
“6-month project, $220,000.”
I was completely speechless.
The Stolen Inheritance
Harrington continued,
“There’s one more thing.”
While he was very careful with the words he chose to use, as the investigation progressed, Lindsay became aware of peculiar patterns in Isabelle’s personal finances.
Including significant transfers made from accounts that were shared with your respective parents. It was during this time that Lindsay observed these patterns.
“If I were you, I would investigate any family financial arrangements with extreme caution. I would like to make sure that you are not taken advantage of.”
During the following week, I devoted my time to searching through old documents. These included bank statements that I had saved from my time as an undergraduate student, letters that my grandfather had written to me before he passed away, and eventually the truth.
When my grandfather passed away 17 years ago, the school fund that he had established had a total of $100,000 in it. He had established the fund.
The will stipulated that it would be divided equally between his two grandchildren, with each of them receiving a sum of $50,000. It was verified that Isabelle had received her agreed-upon payment in full.
The money that she received was sufficient to cover the entirety of her college education as well as the purchase of her first automobile and her apartment in Boston. My parents had invested their money in a business venture that was not successful and I had a portion of the investment in the company before it failed.
They chose not to reveal this information to me at any point. The only reason I had college debts was because they had stolen my inheritance and I had spent the previous 12 years paying them off.
I had no other reason for having loans. It was clear from the records that the bank had kept, after withdrawing $50,000 from my account, my father transferred the money to Isabelle’s account four months later.
This occurred after he had taken the money out of my account. She graduated without any outstanding student loans while I was working three jobs and eating ramen for dinner six nights a week.
She had graduated without any student loans. My eyesight became blurry as I sat in my office doing nothing but staring at the paperwork until it became out of focus.
A Pleading Voice
Two weeks after the wedding, Isabelle called me on the phone, expressing her happiness. Her voice was soft and pleading, which was a stark contrast to the cruel treatment she received at the reception.
“Ethan, we need to talk. This thing with Mr. Harrington, it’s a misunderstanding. You know how these corporate investigations blow things out of proportion.”
“Do I just tell them you helped me with some of those reports, that we collaborated? We’re family, Ethan. Family protects each other.”
“You called me the embarrassment of the family in front of 100 people.”
“That was a joke. God, you’re so sensitive. I was just trying to be funny.”
“Funny?”
“Look, if you don’t help me, this could destroy my entire career. They’re talking about criminal charges, Ethan. I could go to prison.”
“You committed fraud, Isabelle.”
“Because I was under so much pressure. Do you have any idea how stressful my job is? I made mistakes, that’s all. Mistakes.”
“But if you tell them we work together…”
“I’m not going to lie for you.”
“You owe me.”
Her tone became harsh and the mask began to fall apart.
“I let you be part of my wedding. I introduced you to important people. You owe me.”
I hung up the phone.
The Evidence Unfolds
After a period of three days, David Harrington personally summoned me to a conference room located within the regional office of Park View Financial Group. In addition to him, he was accompanied by Lindsay Evans, who was in her mid-50s, had silver hair, sharp eyes, and was wearing designer glasses.
Andrew Miles, who was in his late 40s and was the Director of Legal Affairs for the company, had the exhausted expression of someone who had seen too many cases similar to this one.
“We found something else,”
Lindsay said as she moved a folder across the conference table.
“Across the table during the forensic audit, we discovered emails in Isabelle’s sent folder that appeared to come from your email address.”
The pit of my stomach sank instantaneously.
“They are not genuine. It was designed to give the impression that you were providing her with guidance on how to manipulate expense reports and client documentation. It was her intention to make you appear to be a co-conspirator.”
Andrew stated.
The emails were displayed to me by Lindsay as she opened her laptop. Their email address was very similar to mine, but they used a domain that was slightly different from mine.
They had my name. Detailed instructions on how to falsify reports and how to claim credit for the work of others were included in the content, which was extremely damaging.
“The metadata is what tells the real story,”
Lindsay reiterated further.
Every single one of these emails was created from Isabelle’s work computer. The IP address traces back to her desk.
The timestamps show they were all created in a three-hour window last Tuesday night. After she knew we were investigating, she tried to frame you.
“If this had worked, you’d be facing criminal charges alongside her,”
Andrew concluded by saying.
I was unable to take a breath. In an effort to protect herself, my own sister had attempted to destroy me.
The Termination
This particular hearing for the company took place on a Friday afternoon. Despite the fact that I was not required to be present, Harrington extended an invitation to observe from a room adjacent to the one that had one-way glass.
Within the group of four executives, Isabelle was seated across from them. There is a woman named Patricia Carmichael, who is the Head of Human Resources, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Chief Legal Officer.
She has 30 years of experience in the field of corporate investigations. They presented the evidence in a methodical manner, including the fabricated emails, the stolen work, the fabricated expense reports, and the metadata that supported the claim that she had created them herself.
There were attempts made by Isabelle to enchant them, to cry, and to be angry. There was no success.
In a tone that was icy and business-like, Patricia Carmichael addressed Isabelle Grant from the audience.
“You are terminated effective immediately. The company will be pursuing full restitution for fraudulent expenses totaling $85,000. We will also be reporting this matter to law enforcement for potential criminal prosecution.”
When Isabelle stood up, she said,
“You can’t do this. My family has connections.”
“My father? Your father has no connections that matter here,”
were the words spoken in a low voice by Harrington.
“You’re done, Isabelle. Security will escort you out.”
Observing her exit through a back elevator, I watched her go. Along each side there was a security guard who was carrying her personal belongings in a banker’s box.
The Family Confrontation
In the evening of that day, I made my first phone call to my parents since attending the wedding.
“Ethan,”
Mom said in a bright and oblivious tone of voice,
“we were just talking about you. Did you hear about poor Isabelle? She’s going through something difficult at work. I told her you might be able to help her find a new job.”
“I know about Grandpa’s education fund.”
There is no sound.
“I know you took my $50,000 and gave it to Isabelle. I have the bank records. I have the transfer receipts. I know everything.”
Even more silence and then the voice of my father in a defensive stance.
“That money was invested.”
“It was stolen. You stole my inheritance and gave it to your favorite child while I worked three jobs and ate ramen. She was living in a luxury apartment with my money.”
“Isabelle needed opportunities,”
Mom said, her voice trembling for a moment.
“She had so much potential.”
“And I had nothing? I had no potential? I was just the embarrassment?”
“We were going to pay you back to the child eventually when things were better,”
Dad said.
“18 years. You had 18 years. Instead, you laughed when she humiliated me at her wedding. A wedding I planned, that I paid $3,500 for.”
I ended the call before they could come back to me.
