Chapter 9 - THE FINANCIAL LOCKDerek controlled more of our money than I realized.
Not because I was dependent.
I was a senior acquisitions director for a luxury hotel group.
My income was strong.
I had retirement savings.
Inherited modest money from my parents.
But Derek worked in private wealth management.
He handled investments because finance was his field.
I had access.
Technically.
In practice, I let him manage.
After the protective order, my attorney advised me to review everything.
Accounts.
Credit.
Joint obligations.
Property.
That was when I found a $310,000 home-equity line against our apartment.
Our apartment was worth far more.
The line itself was plausible.
The issue:
I did not remember signing it.
There was an electronic signature.
Mine.
Date:
Four months earlier.
I had been in Los Angeles for work.
Could I have signed remotely?
Yes.
Did I?
I searched my email.
Nothing.
Derek said I had authorized him to manage financing.
Maybe.
But authorization to discuss financing is not authorization to apply another person’s signature.
My divorce attorney brought in a forensic accountant.
Separate from the assault case.
Again:
Different tracks.
May you like
Money does not need to become motive before evidence supports it.
But after the bathroom, I no longer assumed administrative mistakes were harmless.
Related Stories
