Chapters (62)
“Everything you’ve told me is right up their alley,” he had said to Sabrina, encouraging her to make the call to the FBI.
For the longest time, the bureau had had their suspicions about CIG and Jordan Spaulding. When Sabrina Foster sat down with Conner Brandt and told him her story, Conner and his boss thought they might have a shot at getting the goods on Spaulding. If Sabrina Foster worked from the inside, they could finally put a nail in Spaulding’s coffin.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” said Sabrina wringing her hands after Conner suggested she work undercover with the bureau. “What if they find out? I’ll lose my job.”
“If everything you say is true,” said the director of the white-collar crime unit, “CIG is nothing but a house of cards. You won’t have a job to go to when things come crashing down. From what you’ve told us, Ms. Foster, that’s absolutely what’s going to happen. Trust me, CIG is going down. Maybe not today, but soon. You can take that to the bank.”
“That’s the thing about Ponzi schemes, you can’t keep them going forever,” said Conner picking up the conversation thread. “At some point, the rent always comes due. Spaulding has been on top of the world for years and now the party is over, if you help us.”
After two more meetings, Conner convinced Sabrina that it was her patriotic duty to bring down the fraudulent financial operation. “Remember, it’s not only fat-cat millionaires and billionaires who give their money to Spaulding. CIG invests for teachers’ pension funds and children’s hospitals too. What happens to them when this scam blows up? Those teachers are going to lose all their retirement money.”
Sabrina nodded her head. “My mom’s a teacher,” she said softly. “What CIG is doing is messed up. Okay, I’ll do it, for my mom.”
Conner turned over on his uncomfortable hotel mattress and looked at the clock. It was after midnight. He went into the bathroom and poured himself a glass of water. His whole CIG sting operation was scheduled to go down in less than six weeks. Sabrina Foster had proved to be invaluable and had done an excellent job feeding him and his team everything they needed to shut CIG down. Now, the FBI had almost everything they needed to put Jordan Spaulding and half the executives at CIG behind bars. Climbing back into bed, Conner closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind so he could fall asleep. The phone conversation with his wife echoed in his head again. After another half an hour of restlessness, he acknowledged what he already knew—his wife was losing her grip.