Chapter 10 - Brandon’s Company Inflated Several Invoices
Forensic accountants compared Coastal Luxe invoices with actual vendor
costs.
Most were legitimate.
Some included normal markups.
A smaller group did not.
Brandon billed the foundation $210,000 for staffing packages that cost
Coastal Luxe $128,000.
That markup alone was not automatically improper if disclosed.
It was not disclosed.
Worse, several invoices included staff gratuity charges.
Temporary workers told investigators they never received those
gratuities.
Total missing gratuity allocations:
$47,600.
Emma thought about the night Victoria told her to clean the floor.
The insult had been about class.
The records made it financial too.
Workers had been used as a cost center while donors were told gratuities
were included.
Brandon claimed a payroll vendor made the mistake.
The payroll vendor produced records showing Coastal Luxe never
transferred the gratuity funds.
Brandon finally admitted retaining them during a cash shortage.
“I was going to make it right.”
Emma had heard versions of that sentence too many times.
Temporary became permanent when nobody checked.
Brandon’s company began repayment.
His contract was suspended.
Independent counsel referred relevant matters where appropriate.
Henry did not decide criminal guilt.
Neither did Emma.
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The foundation focused on restitution, governance, and preserving
evidence.
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