Chapter 5 - THE AUDIT GOES ON WITHOUT HER
The board did not cancel the four o’clock meeting.
Good governance.
Bad for Claire emotionally.
Because the audit committee chair, Susan Bell, asked Claire not to attend initially.
“You’re a witness and now part of a separate reputational incident.”
Claire stared.
“So Vanessa wins.”
“No.”
“It feels like it.”
Susan answered:
“That’s why process matters.”
Independent internal audit presented findings.
Verity House total billed over eighteen months:
$3.92 million.
Of that:
$2.47 million reasonably supported.
$620,000 involved unusually high markups but potentially legitimate contracted work.
$830,000 lacked sufficient support, duplicated deliverables, or flowed through entities with undisclosed relationships.
Not $3.92 million stolen.
Not even $830,000 proven stolen.
Questionable.
The committee voted:
freeze new Verity House payments,
preserve documents,
hire outside forensic accounting,
retain independent defamation counsel,
and place Claire on paid administrative leave for seven days while the protest and personal-conflict issues were reviewed.
Claire hated the leave.
Rachel said:
“It protects the investigation.”
Claire answered:
“It looks like suspension.”
Online, that was exactly how Vanessa framed it.
May you like
CLAIRE MORGAN REMOVED FROM OFFICE AFTER AFFAIR SCANDAL.
The lie grew faster than the audit.
