Mr. Black looked all around him before stopping in front of Alexander. With Stephen close behind him, he looked a little apprehensive about being caught. Alexander agreed to him and they went up to the office, unlocking the main gate levers and going inside.
“What exactly is going on, Mr. Black?” What financial fraud were you talking about?” asked Alexander as they proceeded towards the financial department.
“Sir, yesterday, after Ms. Rotterdam’s visit, Mr. Cromwell made some changes to our company’s financial statements. When I checked tonight, I was surprised to find that he has manipulated this year’s company accounts,” explained Stephen, while Alexander frowned with concern. Greg Cromwell was their Director – Finance and Beatrix’s best friend’s older brother. Although Alexander didn’t fancy the man, he never voiced his dislike, since Greg was close to the Rotterdam family. Sometimes he had the feeling that Greg Cromwell had hoped to get his position after Desmond Rotterdam’s death.
“Manipulated? How? “Show me.” Stephen logged into his computer and accessed the software to check the latest financial statement. Alexander frowned at the new document, realizing what exactly Cromwell was aiming at. The changed figures overstated the revenues generated while understating its expenses, pointing to accounting fraud. With his level of intelligence, Alexander could easily understand what this could lead to.
“I see. Do you have any record of the original statement?” asked Alexander, but Stephen slowly shook his head.
“The original file has been deleted, sir.” Alexander checked everything while Mr. Black watched everything with a grim expression on his face.
“This looks like a deliberate manipulation of our financial statements. Tomorrow Ms. Rotterdam has summoned an internal audit to collect proof, after which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will question you. They will then conduct their own audit and charge you for fraud, Mr. Van Every. If that happens, Rotterdams will undergo reputational damage and loss of credibility, and our shares will decline as well,” he said, making Alexander frown, deep in thought. He couldn’t understand why Beatrix would resort to such cheap stunts to get at him. Didn’t she realize that she was damaging her father’s dream company in the process?
“How could Cromwell agree to such a stunt?” I have muttered angrily.
“There’s a way to prevent the loss to the company, sir.” Alexander turned towards Stephen. He already knew the way. If only he could get his hands on the original financial statement before the audit started.
“Yes, I’m aware. We need the original financial statement before the internal audit begins tomorrow. Any idea where we could find it?” Stephen scratched his chin, contemplating his question.
“It should be with Cromwell sir, or maybe saved on Mr. Rotterdam’s computer,” Stephen suggested.
“We should have a printed statement. Right?” Mr. Black shook his head, causing Alexander to rethink an alternative.
“Mr. “Rotterdam stopped printing six years ago when we digitized everything for ease of access.” Alexander stared at Mr. Black, his eyes brightening as an idea flashed in his head.
“Then we need to check our server for the original copy. It should be cached somewhere. Call up Frank Stratton right away. We need to access the server. In the meantime, I’ll check Uncle Desmond’s computer.” Frank Stratton was their hardware engineer who was responsible for the Server maintenance. Alexander Strode purposefully towards his office where he kept Uncle Desmond’s computer for consultation. He was the only one who had access to the machine. Hoping to find a breakthrough, I switched on the machine and checked. However, even after twenty minutes, he couldn’t find what he was looking for.
Stephen came over to summon him since Frank had arrived and was working at the server. “There’s no backup, sir. Maybe it was deleted,” said Frank.
“Then there’s only one way left for us. Frank, can you get access to Cromwell’s computer?” asked Alexander grimly, desperate to save himself and Rotterdams from Beatrix’s evil plans. He wouldn’t fall into Beatrix and Cromwell’s trap.
“Yes sir. “I can hack into Sir’s machine.”
“Good, this is a top-secret mission to save the company from a staged accounting fraud.”
“Yes, sir. Our lips will be sealed forever!” swore Stephen.
“Rest assured, sir. I give you my word,” said Frank. Alexander agreed, and they went towards Greg Cromwell’s office. Mr. Black had the keys to the entire office and unlocked the door and led them in. For the next few minutes, Frank tried every way possible to hack into the machine. After the tenth attempt, he was successful, but his machine contained no backup.
“Now what do we do?” asked Stephen, looking quite clueless. It was almost two in the morning and they had very few hours at hand.
“Cromwell couldn’t have erased the current document with the ITR filing deadline around the corner and the upcoming investor’s meeting. This is a temporary attempt just to frame me and make me step down. So I’m sure he has the original copy stored somewhere around,” said Alexander, looking around.
“Maybe he has kept it in his electronic safe,” suggested Mr. Black, and Alexander turned to him with interest. Why didn’t he think of that before?
“We can’t access it without a key or code,” pointed out Frank. “Do you want me to call a professional locksmith, sir?”
“Yes, will he come at this odd hour?” Frank shrugged and took out his phone to call the guy. After six rings, I accepted the call and agreed to come over.
There was no other option than to wait for him. Stephen made coffee for them while Mr. Black searched in the filing cabinets nearby. Cromwell was the one who made the financial statements every year, so he should have a hard copy somewhere. Mr. Black used a pin to open a locked cabinet and smiled at his success.
“You’re quite a professional, it seems,” Stephen joked, and he chuckled.
Frank, too, helped him in his search. I have fished out a dark blue file and scanned its contents. “I think I’ve found what we’re looking for, sir,” he said, handing the file over to Alexander.
They all poured over the documents, and Alexander smiled with relief. Yes, it was indeed the original financial statements he had checked two months back.
“Good job! Now Stephen, take a backup of the manipulated version and a print-out of it too.” Stephen rushed to do as asked while Frank turned towards him.
“So should I call up the locksmith and ask him not to come over?”
“No, let him do the job. “I want to see what the safe contains.” After an hour, the locksmith arrived and opened the safe. Alexander found the soft copies of a lot of manipulated documents stored in USB drives. They were enough evidence to threaten Cromwell off him. The locksmith locked up the safe and the cabinet just like before and they left the office with the evidence. It was nearly five in the morning when Alexander returned to his penthouse. A headache was coming on and he took medicine and laid down for a few hours. He had an important task at hand and couldn’t afford to fall sick now.
It was almost 9 o’clock in the morning when Alexander woke up to the buzzing of his mobile phone. He sat up and groaned at seeing the time. How could he have overslept when he had to reach his office by 8 o’clock in the morning? He checked his phone to see two missed calls from Eva and one from Mr. Black.
Alexander massaged his temples warily. He has completely forgotten about Eva. She would be so worried to see him disappear without informing her. They were supposed to spend the day with one another today! He didn’t have the time to call her. Feeling guilty, he just started typing a message to her when his phone again buzzed with an incoming call from Mr. Black. I have accepted the call worriedly.
“Yes, Mr. Black. Who all are there with you now?”
“Sir, the board members are here, along with the auditors. Ms. Beatrix is also here with Mr. Cromwell, and they are checking the manipulated documents.”
“Fine, let them carry on their investigation. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” Alexander disconnected the call and quickly got ready for work. He had a long day ahead of him and there was no hurry this time. He had done his homework well. Making a quick coffee and some toast, I tied it up and then left for the office. It was time to defeat Beatrix and her accomplice in their own game. Afterwards, he would blast Beatrix and ensure that his parents threw her out of their home. He would end everything with her!
He parked his car and went up the elevator towards his office, carrying all the proof he had worked so hard to gather. The moment he strode into the finance department, there was a pin-dropped silence all around. He went to the conference room and pushed open the door. He could see the excited and angry look on Beatrix’s face as she sat with her accomplice.
“We were about to summon you, Mr. Van Every!” said Mr. Strasbourg, Chairman, of Rotterdams worldwide and a good friend of Desmond Rotterdam.