"Okay," Patricia said. She picked up her pen again. "Here's where we are. What you have is significant. It is potentially sufficient for federal action, but there are gaps.
The Meridian connection to Pruitt is documented, but the full financial trail between the diverted funds and the development accounts needs forensic accounting work to make it airtight. That's not optional without it. A defense attorney cracks the chain of custody argument and you're looking at a settlement, not a conviction." "How long does forensic accounting take?" Marcus asked.
"For a 6-year scheme with this many transactions, 2 to 3 weeks minimum to do it right," Patricia said. "If we rush it, we risk missing something and giving Pruitt's team a gap to exploit." "We don't have 2 to 3 weeks," Marcus said. "The moment Evelyn doesn't show up to the office acting normal, Pruitt is going to know something changed. And the moment he knows something changed, those records start disappearing.
Patricia looked at him. I know. So, what do we do? Patricia leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling for a moment in the way of someone running sequences in their head, checking outcomes, looking for the path that doesn't close before you get to the end of it. Two things simultaneously, she said.
First, Evelyn goes back to the office today. Acts normal. Gives Pruitt no reason to think anything has shifted. She keeps that company phone on and uses it for routine communications. Only nothing sensitive.
Nothing about this. She looked at Evelyn. Can you do that? Yes, Evelyn said without hesitation. Second, Patricia continued, I make a call this afternoon.
I have a contact at the Atlanta field office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General. They have forensic capability and federal authority. If I bring them what you have today, they can begin parallel processing. Their forensic accountants work the financial trail while you maintain normal operations and we give Pruitt no reason to run. And if someone on the board tips him off, Marcus said.
That's the risk, Patricia said. That's why we move today, not tomorrow, today. She looked at both of them. I need to be clear about something else. If we go federal, and based on what I'm seeing, we need to go federal.
This does not stay quiet. These cases don't stay quiet. At some point in this process, probably sooner than any of us would prefer, it becomes public. The company will be investigated. The board will be scrutinized.
There will be press. She looked at Evelyn. Your position becomes untenable the moment this goes public. The board will almost certainly move to protect themselves by distancing from you. You will likely be asked to step down or be removed.