Chapter 14 - The Forensic Audit
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The independent forensic audit of HelixPoint Systems produced catastrophic results for Daniel Mercer.
Once Stonebridge's auditors gained unrestricted access to the company's internal accounts, they uncovered systematic financial mismanagement. Over eighteen months, Daniel had routed over six hundred thousand dollars of corporate funds into personal accounts.
He had billed personal vacations to Hawaii as "market research," leased a luxury sports car using operational capital, and created a fake consulting contract that paid his college friend twenty thousand dollars a month for zero work.
Worse still, his attempt to conceal the domestic battery charges on his signed Stonebridge certification constituted formal fraud.
The fallout was swift and merciless.
Stonebridge officially canceled the conditional ten-million-dollar bridge facility and issued an immediate demand for the repayment of all disbursed funds.
With their primary investor withdrawing and news of the criminal investigation leaking to financial trade outlets, HelixPoint's board of directors convened an emergency meeting.
At 4:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to strip Daniel Mercer of his position as Chief Executive Officer and terminate his employment effective immediately.
Evelyn Hart brought the official termination papers to my office later that afternoon.
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"It's over for him, Rebecca," Evelyn said, placing the folder on my desk. "The board is preparing to hand their findings over to the state prosecutor for corporate embezzlement."
I stared out the window at the setting sun, feeling no surge of victory. Only a quiet, heavy emptiness.
