Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW HIS SECOND PLAN
Lucia agreed to be interviewed by federal investigators.
She did not receive immunity merely for bringing documents. Her attorney negotiated protections regarding accounts Rodrigo had opened without her knowledge, and she provided passwords, tax returns, and travel records.
The affair damaged two marriages.
The financial scheme threatened both innocent spouses.
Mariana asked to meet me again.
This time, her attorney attended.
We sat on opposite sides of Rebecca’s conference table.
Mariana looked exhausted. Her corporate confidence had been replaced by the caution of someone who knew every sentence might become evidence.
“Rodrigo was never going to leave Lucia,” I said.
Her lawyer interrupted. “We are not here to discuss Mr. Santillan’s emotional intentions.”
Mariana raised one hand.
“I need to answer.”
She looked at the documents showing Lucia as the offshore beneficiary.
“He told me the account was ours.”
“He told you what he needed you to believe.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You sound pleased.”
“I spent eight years believing you were extraordinary because you never appeared uncertain. Now I understand certainty was something you performed.”
“I loved you.”
“Did you love me when you copied my passport?”
She looked down.
“Northstar wasn’t supposed to become this.”
“What was it supposed to become?”
“A way to collect consulting income Vithera denied me.”
She explained that she had developed relationships for several emergency-distribution projects. Senior executives received bonuses when contracts closed, but her compensation remained unchanged.
“I brought millions into that company,” she said. “They thanked me with plaques.”
“So you created a vendor.”
“I created a legal company.”
“In my name.”
“Your consulting credentials made it easier to qualify.”
“Without my permission.”
She pressed her lips together.
“I planned to tell you after the first contract.”
“How much was the first payment?”
“One hundred eighty thousand.”
“Where did it go?”
“House expenses. Debt. My mother’s medical care.”
I had known Mariana’s mother lived in New Mexico. I had not known she needed treatment.
Mariana’s attorney produced records showing that $71,000 paid for cardiac rehabilitation and home assistance.
The payment explained part of her motive.
It did not explain the forgery.
“Rodrigo discovered Northstar during a vendor review,” Mariana continued. “He threatened to report me unless I let him control it.”
“When did the affair begin?”
“After that.”
“Did he force that too?”
Her eyes filled, but she did not cry.
“He made it clear what he expected.”
The claim was serious. Investigators would have to examine it rather than accept or dismiss it based on the comfortable kiss I witnessed.
Mariana produced messages in which Rodrigo threatened her career and implied he could send me to prison.
For one afternoon, her explanation appeared possible.
She had begun with an unauthorized company, then become trapped by a more powerful executive who expanded the fraud and demanded a sexual relationship.
It did not make her innocent.
It changed the degree of responsibility.
Then the bank completed its historical review.
Northstar opened twenty-two months before Christmas.
Rodrigo transferred into Vithera’s Operations division fourteen months before Christmas.
The first fraudulent invoice had been submitted eight months before Rodrigo had any authority over vendor review.
Security footage showed Mariana opening the account alone.
Email metadata showed she created the first false invoice from our home.
Her attorney studied the dates.
Mariana closed her eyes.
Rodrigo might have coerced her later.
He could not have forced her to begin a scheme he did not yet know existed.
Rebecca placed the timeline in front of her.
“Your explanation is impossible.”
May you like
Mariana remained silent for nearly a minute.
Then she said, “I want to discuss cooperation.”
