I stared at the document, recognizing the signature but knowing I hadn’t signed it. Someone had copied my electronic authorization or gained access to the system where it was stored.
Daniel arrived later that morning and began examining the company’s financial records. Within hours, he discovered approximately $286,000 in questionable expenditures over the previous eighteen months. The payments had been divided into smaller transfers, sent to unfamiliar marketing agencies and administrative service providers. Individually, they looked ordinary enough to escape immediate attention. Together, they suggested a deliberate pattern.
Daniel warned me not to jump to conclusions.
“We need to establish who initiated each payment and who ultimately benefited,” he explained. “Suspicious transactions are evidence of something worth investigating, but we need to identify the people behind them.”
One recipient immediately caught my attention because it was connected to Richard Cole, an investment consultant Landon had introduced at our anniversary gala two years earlier. I remembered Richard congratulating Landon on everything he had supposedly built. Suddenly, that conversation felt very different.
THE STORY CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE… 👇👇👇
