I started my own business from the ground up. I started with myself and two employees. After years of hard work I got my company up to over 200 employees and things were running smooth.
I brought in a new accounting firm to look over my books. One day they called me for a meeting and informed me that some money had been funneled out of the company. Over the course of about 5 years it totaled over $280,000.
My business was doing well on paper because the missing cash was well hidden. In reality, the company bills were being juggled and my reputation was being hurt with creditors.
The reason for the loss of money was my CFO and friend of 10 years. He was funneling money to himself. I felt betrayed. He stole the money from me. He thought he could get away with it. I was hurt.
My CFO Rick and his wife Julie always had the nicest clothes and took nice trips. I paid him well. Now he had put my business in jeopardy.
The accounting firm equipped me with all the evidence I needed. I did not want to involve the police. I wanted to speak with Rick first.
I called Rick and told him we needed to meet and talk. He knew something was wrong. He knew the accounting firm was on to him. He kept asking if I was upset. He tried to play the friendship angle. Julie actually worked for me in a different department before I hired him. I told him we needed to meet.
Julie called me about an hour after I hung up from Rick. She started out the conversation with an apology.
"I'm so sorry" Julie said in an apologetic voice.
"I can't believe you two would do this to me. I'm so hurt...disappointed...angry...sad". I replied.
The next day I saw Rick's SUV pull up outside my office window. He was driving a very nice Yukon. To my surprise Julie was with him.
They knocked on my office door and came in. I got up out of my chair and stood glaring at them as they entered. Not a word was spoken for the first few minutes.
They came in and sat in the two chairs in front of my desk. I walked from behind my desk to infront of it looking down at them. I then leaned back on the front of my desk.
"Why?" I asked.
Both Rick and Julie looked at each other unsure how to answer. There was a long moment of silence.
"Why?" I asked again.
Rick just looked down. He didn't want to answer.
"It's my fault" Julie blurted out.
"And how is it your fault" I asked. "Please explain."
"We never intended for this to happen." Julie explained. "It just got away from us. We always intended to pay it back."
"Ok, so your going to pay it back?" I asked. "Right now? Do you have a check? $280,000 is a good deal of money, how do you plan on paying it back?"
"We don't know." Julie answered.
"That's not an acceptable answer." I said in a strong voice. "You better figure out very quickly how you will pay it back."
"How much can you pay me right now?" I asked.
Julie looked at Rick who still was slumped over looking down. "I can give you $4,000 right now."
"$4,000?" I asked. "That doesn't even put a dent in it. Julie, explain to me why you think this is all your fault?"
"I love the nicer things in life." Julie explained. "I pushed Rick to borrow the money. It started as a nice pair of shoes. Then a purse, and snowballed from there."
"So he showered you with expensive gifts and stole money to keep you happy?" I asked. "Now you only have $4,000 to pay back?"
"Yes, that's all the cash we have." Julie answered. "We can give you our purchases if you want? Anything it takes to pay it back. You can have my jewelry, purses, shoes, anything. We can make payments. Anything you want, we want to work this out. We know what the consequences are if you were to call the police. We will do anything to resolve this between us."
"So you want to give me your jewelry?" I asked.
"Jewelry, anything, you name it". Julie answered. "Some of my jewelry is expensive. My clothes as well. I don't know if you have a use for expensive shoes or purses, but if you want, they are all yours."
I thought about it for a moment. I didn't have it in me to call the police. Rick was just sitting there looking like he had all but given up. Julie was begging for a way to make to right. I looked at Julie's purse. To me I couldn't really tell anything special about it. I'm sure it was expensive but it didnt have any value to me. Neither did her tennis bracelet or diamond necklace. I could pawn them, but that was about it.
"Ok, write me a check for $4,000." I answered after a long pause. "That brings your total to $276,000. What do you want to value your tennis bracelet and diamond necklace?"
"I paid $8,000 for the tennis bracelet and $14,000 for the diamond necklace." Julie answered.
"Ok, I'll give you the value you paid for them." I stated. "We are down to $254,000."
Julie came to my office dressed very nice. She was in a black stylish dress and black 5 inch stylish high heels. Her wardrobe was expensive. She was also an attractive woman. She was in her early 40's and really took care of herself. Her body was very fit and very tone. I could tell she spent time at the gym. I also understood why Rick did anything he could to keep her happy. She was the definition of a trophy wife. She even had the breast implants to give her a D cup.
"How much do you want for your purse?" I asked. "I'm guessing that's an expensive dress as well. What do you want for it? I don't have a need for it, but I have to get something back."
"Let's say $2,000 for the purse and $800 for the dress." Julie answered.
"Ok, that brings you down to $251,200." I answered with a look that was saying that amount was still really high.
"It's a good start, right?" Julie answered.
Rick had become more engaged in the conversation and actually looked up now that things were looking better for him. Julie seemed positive that she was going to work everything out.
"Ok, let's get the check and these items." I said.
Julie handed me a check and then took off her tennis bracelet and diamond necklace. She hesitated for a moment but then handed them over.
"So where do we go from here?" Julie asked. "I can go home and get more items to give you. Can you give me maybe 30 minutes and I'll be right back?"
"Yes, you can go get more things, but first I need everything we just discussed." I said.
"Everything? Right now? What do you mean? You want my dress now?" Julie asked as she was confused.
"Yes, everything, right now." I said very sternly.
"What am I going to wear home?" Julie asked.
"I don't know. That's not my problem. You will figure it out." I said. "Do we have a problem with this? I thought you really wanted to work things out? If we are going to do this, it's going to be my way. I call the shots. If we are going to do this, I want everything I want. That's just the only way I'm willing to work through this. This might not be something you want to do. I understand if you don't want to go this route. I'm very serious that you have to give me everything I want and I set the price. I promise to be fair in the value. Just know the things I might ask for might be hard for you to part with. Are you both ok with this? Do you want to proceed?"
Rick looked at Julie. Julie was sitting in the chair thinking. She looked at Rick and the both nodded to each other that they were ok proceeding.
"Let's proceed." Julie said as she stood up and unzipped the back of her dress.
