Chapter 4 - The Legal Wolf
By the time we reached the main branch of my bank in downtown Seattle, the rain had turned into a torrential downpour. Clara marched through the brass-and-glass doors like a general leading an invasion, with my mother and me close behind.
"I need to see the branch manager immediately," Clara told the receptionist, flashing her bar card. "This is an emergency involving active financial fraud and elder abuse of power."
Within five minutes, we were ushered into a private, wood-paneled office. The manager, a sharp-looking man named Mr. Henderson, looked nervous as Clara slammed a draft of the revocation papers onto his desk.
"Mr. Henderson," Clara said, her voice carrying a quiet authority that filled the room. "My client, Emily Vance-Corey, is the sole owner of the holding company that recently received a fifteen-million-dollar acquisition payment. We have reason to believe her husband, Daniel Corey, is currently attempting to use a fraudulently obtained power of attorney to drain or freeze those funds."
Mr. Henderson looked at the papers, then ran a hand over his balding head. "I... let me check the system."
He tapped furiously on his keyboard. The silence in the office was suffocating. I could hear the rain lashing against the window, the faint hum of the air conditioning, the sound of my own quick, shallow breaths.
"Ah," Mr. Henderson said, his face draining of color. "We actually received a wire request from a Mr. Daniel Corey about two hours ago. He presented a signed general power of attorney, dated April of last year."
"Did you process it?" my mother demanded, stepping forward, her eyes blazing.
"It’s... it's currently in the queue for compliance verification," Henderson stammered. "Because of the size of the transfer—six million dollars to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands—our fraud division flagged it for secondary review."
I sank into my chair, my stomach turning over. Six million dollars. Daniel hadn't just tried to take a little to help his family. He was trying to take nearly half of everything I had worked for, and he was sending it to a tax haven where I would never be able to recover it.
"Stop the transfer," Clara ordered. "Here is the formal revocation of that power of attorney, signed and notarized by my office this morning. Furthermore, we are placing a total administrative freeze on all of Emily's accounts. No one—not even Emily herself—moves a dime without in-person verification and three forms of identification."
"Of course," Mr. Henderson said, his fingers flying across the keys. "I'm flag-marking the account now. The wire is canceled. The power of attorney is officially null and void in our system."
I let out a breath I felt like I’d been holding for days.
"We're not done," Clara said, turning to me. "They know the wire failed. They’re going to get a notification in a few minutes. When they realize the money didn't go through, they are going to panic. And panic makes people sloppy."
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"What do we do?" I asked.
"We go on the offensive," Clara said, a cold smile playing on her lips. "We let them think they’re winning, just long enough for them to commit a federal crime."
