Chapter 3 - THE DEBT HIDING IN MY NAME
The following morning, I sat across from a bank investigator named Daniel Brooks while Rachel organized the paperwork beside me.
Daniel spoke carefully. “We’ve identified thirteen financial applications associated with your Social Security number. Several include forged signatures.”
Thirteen.
I had spent years believing I was rescuing my father’s company from temporary setbacks. Instead, someone had been building an entire financial trap around my identity.
The most disturbing document was a $900,000 equipment lease. Payments had stopped months earlier, and the leasing company was preparing to pursue the named guarantor.
Me.
“Can you prove you didn’t authorize these?” Daniel asked.
Rachel slid forward my employment records, travel receipts, and bank statements. Two loan applications had supposedly been signed while I was attending conferences in Seattle and Boston.
“I want whoever did this held responsible,” I said.
Daniel nodded, then opened an attachment from the latest application. The electronic submission included a scanned copy of my passport and a tax return containing information I had never shared with the lender.
Someone close to me had supplied those documents.
My father had access to old financial files, but so did my mother and sister.
As we prepared to leave, Daniel stopped us.
“One more thing. The transfers involving Northstar weren’t random. The money came from accounts designated for payroll and construction expenses.”
I pictured the hundreds of workers employed by my father’s company.
“Are you saying he stole from them?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“We believe someone diverted money intended for those employees.”
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Then he showed me the transfer authorization.
The approving device had been registered to my mother’s personal phone.
