“What does it mean?” I took the letter from Matt’s hand and read over the word again. “Who is Franklin and Fritz? And why are they pulling funding?”
Leandro had lowered his head in a sigh. “It’s a long story.”
Matt put his hand on his hip in frustration. “It’s unprofessional.”
“Matt, please,” Leandro spoke softly. He shook his head, then he rubbed his face with both hands. “I’ve been expecting this for a while now.”
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” I had no idea what the letter meant, but it definitely was not good news. The letterhead was from a lawyer’s office, and it appeared to be a sealed document specifically for Leandro. There was even a timestamp and a signature at the bottom. “Are you in trouble?”
Leandro looked me straight in the eye with a sympathetic gaze. “No, Jourdanne. I’m fine. The business, however, might be a little rocky for a while.”
“Why?” I went over and sat beside Leandro. I took his hand in mine and leaned against him lovingly. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Franklin and Fritz are investors for the three biggest charities in Europe.” Matt began explaining the details to me. Even though he rarely went on business ventures with Leandro, he knew the ins and outs of the business well. “Because of a discrepancy with one of the smaller charities Leandro worked with last year, they raised an investigation on how funds were being disbursed. That investigation has led up to Leandro’s business now.”
I didn’t want to ask, but I had to. “Like… fraud?”
Leandro nodded.
“But there is no fraud,” Matt said. I could see he was growing angry at the whole mess. He started to pace as he held tight to the envelope. “You would never capitalize on other people’s misfortunes.”
Leandro lifted his chin. “Of course not. But the investigation is still ongoing.”
“What does that have to do with Franklin and Fritz pulling funding?” I asked.
Leandro drew in a deep breath. I could see the weight of everything was starting to crush him. “They warned me that if they couldn’t resolve the investigation by the time the current deal processed, they’d have no choice but to cut funding and pull out.” Leandro shook his head. “I was hoping the investigation would wrap up last week, but they had one more thing to review.”
Matt was still pacing. He stopped near the dresser for a breath, then crossed his arms tight. “They should know better than to think you and your employees would commit fraud.”
“I know, I know. But there isn’t anything we can do, Matt.” Leandro got up from the bed and went over to the fridge for bottled water. “I wish things were different. I wish there was a way to wrap things up. I do.” Leandro unscrewed the bottle and chugged a big gulp. “Because these past two months of meetings and trips will be for nothing if they do pull out.”
“What is the one last thing they’re looking into?” I asked.
Leandro leaned back against the counter and shook his head. “Something about the fundraiser in February.”
“The one in New York?” Matt asked.
Leandro gave a nod. “There were fifteen-thousand dollars’ worth of prizes given out, and half of it went to people who worked the event. I keep telling Joseph…” Leandro looked at me to clarify. “Joseph Franklin, that is, that the funds must’ve gone to those people because they applied for the benefits and entered the drawings. Nothing was exclusive, so everyone involved—aside from investors—put their names into the drawings. The wait staff, the cleaning crew, the catering company. Hell, even the event venue who provided the tables, chairs, dishes. It was a community event for Valentine’s weekend. We had nearly a quarter-million entries.”
I sat there on the bed wondering why that would be seen as fraud, but Leandro was one step ahead of me.
“Joseph thinks we funneled money from the outside investors and gave it to the people there because my team was the one in charge of selecting the staff. He thinks it was biased, and he’s determined to either prove himself right, or ‘buy me a bottle of Macallan scotch to apologize’.” Leandro rolled his eyes. “He’s not afraid to admit when he’s wrong, but damn if he isn’t persistent to find the truth.”
“And,” I got up from the bed, “you’ve never found those funds in an overage on another account?”
“What do you mean?” Leandro asked. He took another drink of water, then watched me as I neared him slowly in thought.
“Were you there when the funds were disbursed? Did you pay out each winner?”
“No.” Leandro shook his head. “I have a team who handles those things. Do you think they did this?”
“No.”
I had to laugh. Leandro was starting to look angry, but I had a more reasonable solution. “Not that it’s funny. It’s just… human error.”