“Linda?Isn’t that the jewelry store manager from yesterday?”Fenella asks, breath quick.
“That explains it,” I say.
Fenella shakes her head with a frown.“Has she been arrested?”
“Done.The FBI interrogated her.She did it purely out of desperation.She bought a kidney donor illegally for her brother, who suffers from an autoimmune disease,” he explains.
“Oh, man.She was unlucky to get a credit card already targeted.If only she’d waited until Dave cracked the card, she probably wouldn’t have been caught,” Matthew groans.
I turn to my left, raise an eyebrow, and give Matthew a knowing look.My glare screamsit’s a crime.The morally gray character just shrugs.
“From tracing his accounts and matching the numbers with several contracts, we’ve built a strong suspicion,” Golden says evenly.“Peter has formed a network with friends under the disguise of a social foundation and a joint venture investment company.”
“We also noticed a similar pattern in the transaction records and documents you gave me,” he says.I pass the notes to Fenella.“The social foundations owned by artists, celebrities, and fashion designers are all connected.”
“Wait.Mallory West’s Foundation?”Fenella gasps, scanning the page.
“They’re fake social foundations and shell companies?”I ask.Golden nods.
“What’s a shell company?”Jessy frowns, confused.
“Shell companies only exist on paper,” I explain patiently.“No real business happens.They’re just a cover, used to funnel illegal money so it’s harder to trace.”
“There are dozens of them, all intertwined,” Golden adds.“They form one massive network tied to Alan’s business, Amy’s, Mallory’s, Oscar’s, and several other celebrity companies.”
“But those are all Mallory’s friends,” Fenella whispers, her eyes wide as she flips through the list.“And my mom’s hospital charity… No wonder the money was never enough.She always works so hard to gather the money.”Her voice trails off as she stares toward the kitchen.I feel a pang of pity for her.
“Don’t tell your mom yet,” I say softly, rubbing her arm.She turns to me, eyes worried, and nods.
“Wait, so you’re saying their companies are just fronts for laundering money?”Jessy blurts.
“Exactly.Think about those designer clothes you like, Jessy,” Matthew says, smirking.“They mark up prices in the name of luxury.Half the time, no one even wears them on the street.”
“Well, yeah, not everyone can afford them and definitely not on the street,” Jessy scrunching his nose.
“Whatever.”Matthew rolls his eyes.
“Sales data can be faked to make it look like profit,” Golden cuts in.“But it’s just dirty money being recycled.”
Jessy’s jaw drops.“You mean all those sold-out launches are fake?Even the people lining up?”
“They might be,” I say.“Or they’re real buyers, but the money’s nothing compared to what’s laundered.Sometimes they even pay models or extras to fill the crowd.Marketing gimmick.They hide the cash flow behind PR budgets.”
Matthew laughs.“I once got paid by a coffee shop to sit there for hours pretending to be a customer.Place looked packed.”
“Oh my God, it’s the same as Oscar’s new club,” Jessy says, snapping his fingers.“He paid Gene and other agencies to bring in models for the grand opening.”
“Bingo.”I grin and point at him.
“This sounds too big to be just suspicion.Do we have any solid proof?”Fenella asks, her brow furrowing, fear flickering in her eyes.
Golden exhales slowly.“There are plenty of Irish mob ties covering their tracks, not to mention Alan’s tangled web of companies.”He takes a sip of hot tea, unbothered.
“Yes, but what proof?”Fenella presses, almost breathless.The idea that the fashion world she’s been part of is fake seems to shake her.
He slides another document toward us.“Our tracing shows these shell firms, posing as investment companies, buy shares to inflate stock value.Alan’s company, for instance, received massive capital from one of them.”
“Then Alan’s firm reports fake profits, holds the funds for a few months, and when the shell company dissolves, they return part of the ‘investment’ plus dividends,” Golden continues.
