Chapter 8 - The bid scores
Apex’s procurement system retained versions.
Julian should have known.
Original North Vale bid score:
72.4.
Threshold for finalist status:
Final stored score:
81.7.
What changed?
Safety history.
Past-performance rating.
Staffing capacity.
Three values increased.
Who edited?
Julian’s credentials.
Time:
11:42 p.m.
From IP associated with his home laptop.
Our home.
Could I have done it?
No access to his procurement login.
Could someone else use the laptop?
Yes.
Then multi-factor authentication pinged Julian’s phone.
Harder.
He approved.
Julian’s explanation:
His analyst called late and asked him to correct outdated North Vale performance data.
Who?
Seth Monroe.
Seth said:
“I never asked.”
Now credibility fight.
Then North Vale’s actual work.
Not disastrous.
Facilities maintained.
No safety catastrophe.
Apex may have paid more than necessary.
Estimated excess compared with next qualified bid:
$312,000 over contract term.
Not guaranteed damage because bidders differ.
Then email traffic.
Julian to Graham Vale:
Need you at 79 minimum. Send revised staffing sheet.
Graham:
Evelyn said you’d get it through.
Julian:
Stop putting that in writing.
There.
Awful.
Then Julian’s performance bonus year.
One metric:
Supplier-cost savings.
Awarding North Vale at higher pricing should reduce his bonus.
Unless classified as strategic vendor with projected savings.
Julian classified it that way.
Bonus impact:
Approximately $38,000.
Now personal benefit.
Small relative to contract.
Still relevant.
Then Evelyn’s Vale Hospitality received $72,000 in fees tied to North Vale executive events.
Family circle.
Could prosecutors call it bribery?
Not yet.
No evidence Graham paid Julian directly.
No evidence Evelyn passed money to him.
Potential undisclosed related-party self-dealing and falsified procurement records.
Corporate discipline enough even without criminal case.
Then Margaret asked:
“Do you want Julian terminated now?”
I was not chair for this matter.
“I don’t get a vote.”
“Good answer.”
The audit committee decided to continue paid leave pending interview.
Why paid?
Policy and procedural fairness.
Then Julian refused interview on advice of counsel because criminal exposure possible.
His right.
Apex could still make employment decisions from existing evidence.
But refusing an interview might affect internal process under policy.
Then regulators appeared.
Apex operated healthcare facilities.
Certain contracts implicated federal and state healthcare programs indirectly, but North Vale contracts were facilities services, not patient referrals.
No automatic healthcare fraud.
Still, Apex’s outside counsel voluntarily disclosed procurement concerns to relevant auditors under contractual obligations.
No public scandal yet.
Then divorce discovery found something unrelated.
Julian had purchased a condominium.
Not for a mistress.
For Evelyn.
Three years earlier.
Title:
Evelyn Vance.
Purchase price:
$680,000.
Down payment:
$220,000.
Source:
Julian’s separate investment account?
Mostly.
But $96,000 came from our joint account.
I had no memory of approving it.
Julian said:
“You knew I helped Mom.”
May you like
Helping was not the same as spending ninety-six thousand dollars of joint funds.
Now my divorce had its own audit.
