He's a senior investigator with the SEC. Holt stood and shook his hand with the brisk efficiency of a man with a full schedule. Mr. Coleman, Holt said, I'll be direct. The investigation into Hayes Global's financial irregularities has expanded.
In reviewing the transactions and the timeline, I've identified patterns that go beyond Ethan Caldwell. He paused. We believe Caldwell had a contact at a competing firm who was receiving information through the fraudulent transaction structure. The competing firm used that information to make strategic moves in the logistics market that directly impacted Hayes Global's contract position over the past 18 months. Darius looked at Victoria.
Her face was controlled, but he could see it the specific exhaustion of someone absorbing one more thing when they thought they had seen the full extent of it. Who? She said, "We're not at liberty to name the firm at this stage," Holt said. "But I want to be direct with you about why I'm here today specifically. " He turned to Darius. Mr.
Coleman, in the documentation you've been compiling as part of your safety review, the 47 discrepancies, the maintenance logs, the inspection records, we believe there may be information that's relevant to establishing the timeline of the external contact, specifically certain system access logs that would have been routed through infrastructure records rather than the main IT system. Darius was quiet for a moment. The maintenance logs, he said, suble two. Yes, Holt said the ones that would show who accessed the mechanical room in the weeks before the storm. Correct.
Victoria looked at Darius. He could see her doing the same calculation he was doing that the building's maintenance records which had never been considered relevant to the financial investigation might hold the answer to a question nobody had thought to ask. I can pull those records today. Darius said they're in the facilities management system. I have access.
We'd appreciate that. Holt said it took him 40 minutes. 40 minutes in the facilities management database, pulling access logs for sublevel 2, going back 22 months, cross- refferencing them with keycard records, and then sitting with what he found for 5 minutes before he walked it back to Victoria's office. He set the print out on the desk. 14 visits to the mechanical room in 22 months.
He said four of them were routine maintenance, two by me, two by the previous contractor. 10 of them were after hours access between 9:00 p.m. And midnight over an 18-month period. He paused. All 10 are logged under the same key card.
Hol leaned forward. Caldwells? No, Darius said. That's what I expected. But no, he pointed at the name on the printout.
Board member seated for seven years voted against the new safety division two weeks ago. The silence in the room was the specific silence of something large becoming clear all at once. Victoria stared at the printout. Arthur Ben, she said very quietly. You know him, Darius said.