Chapter 5 - THE $850,000 WAS FOR A COMPANY THAT DIDN'T EXIST
R.C. Consulting had received the money.
But it was immediately transferred again.
To a company called Helix Ridge Ventures.
Owner:
Charles Whitmore.
Not publicly.
Through a nominee.
Mara traced the structure.
The $850,000 was part of a larger stream of company money Charles had moved into private investment vehicles outside the board’s knowledge.
Rebecca’s account was being used as a pass-through.
Why?
Because Charles believed a vendor tied to a mid-level executive would attract less scrutiny than a direct transfer to himself.
Rebecca claimed she did not know.
Records showed she signed two transfer authorizations.
Her attorney argued she believed both were ordinary corporate payments.
Emails complicated that defense.
Charles:
Move the eight-fifty through your entity. Cleaner that way.
Rebecca:
Cleaner for who?
Charles:
Everyone.
Rebecca:
I don’t want my name on something ugly.
Charles:
Then don’t ask ugly questions.
Ethan read the messages twice.
Rebecca had known enough to worry.
Not enough, perhaps, to understand everything.
But enough not to be innocent.
That hurt him in a new way.
The affair was intimate betrayal.
May you like
The money was character.
She had looked at something suspicious and chosen comfort over truth.
