The auditors had not yet concluded that every payment was fraudulent.
They needed source records, bank confirmations, and explanations from the people involved.
But the pattern justified deeper investigation.
The daughter looked toward the operations director.
“Did anyone raise these issues before my father died?”
The man hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
The room became quiet.
The daughter waited.
He continued.
“The regional finance manager submitted questions about related-party consulting expenses. Some were escalated to the chairman's office.”
“What happened?”
“They were described as strategic matters outside the regional team's responsibility.”
The daughter looked toward the papers.
Then asked, “Was the employee disciplined?”
The director lowered his eyes.
“His responsibilities were reduced.”
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked toward the company's human-resources representative.
“I want that decision reviewed independently.”
The representative nodded.
She continued.
“And I want the employee's concerns examined without assuming that management's earlier response was correct.”
The room remained quiet.
Then the senior auditor cleared his throat.
“There's another issue.”
The daughter looked up.
He placed a document on the screen.
It came from the hotel's employee education program.
Her father's scholarship program.
The one she'd supported since her twenties.
The one whose paperwork had apparently supplied the image used for the forged signature.
The auditor explained that a consulting firm linked to the development network had received payments described as training and recruitment services.
The invoices had been charged against budgets intended to support employee education.
Several employees who applied for training assistance had been told that funds were unavailable.
The daughter's expression changed.
She looked toward the screen.
“How much?”
The auditor gave a preliminary figure.
She stared.
Then asked him to repeat it.
He did.
The payments under review totaled more than a million dollars across several reporting periods.
Not all were necessarily improper.
But significant portions lacked adequate supporting documentation.
The daughter felt anger rising.
For a moment, she could barely speak.
The scholarship program was not merely another expense category.
It had been one of her father's proudest achievements.
He believed employees should be able to develop careers beyond the positions in which they began.
Now money allocated to that purpose appeared to have been redirected toward consulting arrangements connected with the executive's network.
She looked toward the table.
Then spoke quietly.
“Preserve every invoice.”
The auditor nodded.
“Already underway.”
She continued.
“Find out which employees were denied assistance during the affected periods.”
The human-resources representative began taking notes.
“And if we establish that legitimate program funds were improperly diverted, I want a plan to restore them.”