Chapter 15 - The FBI Takes Over
With CFO Marcus Vance rolling over and handing the federal prosecutors the complete, unredacted financial roadmap of the embezzlement scheme, the case rapidly outgrew the local district attorney's jurisdiction. The sheer scale of the fraud—crossing multiple state lines and international banking borders—meant the United States Department of Justice officially took over the prosecution.
On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, Harrison and I sat in the secure conference room of the FBI’s downtown field office, meeting with Assistant U.S. Attorney David Chen—a legendary prosecutor known for boasting a ninety-eight percent conviction rate in complex financial crimes.
Chen laid out three massive accordion folders on the table, each one labeled with Camille’s name and criminal docket numbers.
"Ms. Sterling," Chen said, adjusting his glasses as he looked at me with genuine respect. "In my fifteen years prosecuting white-collar crime, I have rarely seen a victim present a case packaged as thoroughly as this one. Your network logs, combined with your father’s secondary ledgers and Marcus Vance’s cooperating testimony, have given us an ironclad indictment."
"What are the official charges, Mr. Chen?" I asked, leaning forward.
"We are indicting Camille Sterling on twenty-two counts," Chen recited, tapping the folder. "Including interstate wire fraud, bank fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, witness tampering, and aggravated assault of a federal witness—which we added after reviewing the ER records and audio recordings from the night she broke your arm."
"And my mother?" I asked quietly, feeling a brief, complicated twinge of filial sadness before my logical mind repressed it.
Chen pulled out a smaller, secondary folder labeled Eleanor Sterling. "Your mother received over one point four million dollars in stolen corporate funds over a two-year period. She used those funds to purchase luxury real estate, fine art, and personal jewelry while knowingly concealing the source of the capital from tax authorities. We are indicting her on four counts of receiving stolen property and tax fraud."
May you like
Harrison placed a comforting hand on my good shoulder. "It’s the right thing to do, Sydney. They made a conscious choice to rob your father's estate and destroy your life. Now the federal justice system is going to balance the books."
I looked down at my fiberglass cast, feeling the dull, lingering throb of the bone that was still knitting itself back together inside my skin. "Proceed with the indictments, Mr. Chen. Let's finish this."
