Chapter 10 - The Financial AuditsThe next phase of my counter-attack began with a quiet meeting at the Denver IRS Criminal Investigation office.
Clara and I sat across from Special Agent Sterling, a serious man who looked like he had spent his entire life looking at spreadsheets. We placed the thick folder of financial documents on his desk.
"Agent Sterling," Clara said, "we are here to report systematic, multi-million dollar tax evasion and financial fraud by Vanguard Developments and its principals, Richard and Diego."
Sterling pulled the documents toward him, skimming through the bank statements, the shell company registrations, and the hidden offshore accounts. As he read, his eyebrows rose higher and higher.
"Where did you get these?" he asked, looking at us intensely.
"They were obtained legally through internal discovery and whistleblowers," Clara replied smoothly. "As you can see, Vanguard has been laundering profits through dummy entities to avoid paying their creditors and the IRS. My client’s husband, Diego, was also actively forging her signature on several financial documents to use her personal assets as collateral for these fraudulent loans."
I opened my laptop and showed him a digital copy of a loan application. It was an application for a $1.2 million equity loan on my Capitol Hill condo.
The signature at the bottom read Valerie.
But the handwriting was a clumsy, rushed imitation of mine. Diego had tried to steal my apartment before he even asked me for it.
Agent Sterling’s eyes turned cold. "This is bank fraud, forgery, and tax evasion. I’m assigning a federal task force to this immediately. Ladies, thank you. You’ve just given us the key to a three-year-old investigation."
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As we walked out of the federal building, I looked up at the blue Colorado sky.
Diego, I thought, you wanted my apartment. Now, you’re going to get a federal prison cell.
