Chapter 7 - JENNIFER’S COMPANY
Jennifer said JRT Advisory was legitimate.
She claimed she provided branding, event planning, social media strategy, and market research.
She had done some of those things.
The question was whether the payments matched the work.
Three-point-six million dollars was a great deal for occasional campaigns.
Invoices contained vague descriptions.
Strategic family-market positioning.
Brand heritage alignment.
Customer loyalty development.
No deliverables attached.
Marcus approved the invoices.
My proxy supplied the votes confirming related-party transactions after year-end.
Jennifer’s lawyer advised her to stop cooperating informally.
She requested a formal proffer with civil investigators and the state attorney general’s office.
The company itself had not yet been declared a crime scene.
Bad governance is not automatically criminal.
Self-dealing can be legal if disclosed and properly approved.
Our problem was disclosure.
I never knew.
Employee trustees did not know.
The lender apparently received abbreviated statements.
Marcus’s defense:
Sarah’s proxy authorized management discretion.
The proxy did not authorize hiding conflicts.
The audit expanded.
Jennifer’s company had transferred $1.1 million to a property LLC owned by Patricia.
Patricia said it repaid a family loan.
No promissory note existed.
The LLC bought the lake house where Marcus hosted executive retreats.
I had been there twice.
I thought the company owned it.
It did not.
Patricia did.
The company paid maintenance.
My votes approved “executive facilities.”
I felt physically ill.
Ethan refused to say I told you so.
That helped.
Our first real conversation after years happened in Rachel’s conference room.
“How did you know Marcus was doing this?” I asked.
“I didn’t know the full amount. I saw vendor patterns.”
“Why did you think he wanted my shares?”
“Because when I asked whether you had your own counsel, he removed me from meetings.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I did.”
“The emails?”
“Some were real.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
He opened his old archive.
One message Marcus had shown me:
Once Sarah revokes the proxy, Marcus loses majority control.
Real.
Another:
She thinks this is about marriage. Keep it that way.
Fake.
They had combined real audit concerns with fabricated betrayal.
Enough truth to make the lie believable.
Ethan said:
“I should have told you sooner that I was reviewing your proxy.”
“Yes.”
“I worried it would look like I wanted your shares.”
“Then you let Marcus explain your silence.”
“Yes.”
Neither of us emerged pure.
That made rebuilding possible.
Daniel’s first meeting with Ethan occurred at Dr. Levin’s office.
A room with toys.
No relatives.
No cameras.
Ethan entered carrying nothing.
Daniel looked disappointed.
“I thought you’d bring a dinosaur.”
Ethan smiled.
“I almost did. Dr. Levin told me not to bribe you.”
“That was me,” Dr. Levin said.
Daniel considered her betrayal.
Then he asked Ethan:
“Do you know T. rex had feathers?”
“Some relatives probably did.”
“Do you have a dad?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Florida.”
“Is he mean?”
“No.”
“Do you know Uncle Marcus?”
Ethan looked toward me.
“I do.”
“Do you like him?”
“No.”
The honesty made Daniel laugh.
Their meeting lasted twenty minutes.
No hug.
At the end Daniel allowed Ethan to shake his hand.
“See you again?”
“If you want.”
Daniel nodded.
Outside, Ethan sat in his car and cried.
I watched from mine.
We did not comfort each other yet.
Some grief needed separate rooms.
Then the auditor found a second issue.
JRT Advisory was not the largest unexplained vendor.
A company called Cross Creek Distribution had received $8.2 million.
The name looked like Ethan’s.
Marcus immediately told the board Ethan had been stealing from Thompson for years.
May you like
Ethan said he had never heard of the company.
Someone had built a shell using his name as camouflage.
