Smoking Gun (Adam Cartwright Trilogy Book 1) (10 page)

These weekend walk-arounds enabled me to get to know the workers and identify issues that should be addressed before they escalated into problems. Sunday morning had been no exception and I had a number of items to discuss with the engineers and inspectors the following day. After I completed the site inspection, I shared a table in the dining room with a group of workers when I had lunch. There was a different mealtime protocol in place during the weekends. During the week the men usually ate their meals in workgroups. Foremen and leading hands would either eat with their own workgroup or else share a table with other foremen and leading hands. It did not seem to be appropriate for foremen or leading hands to eat with other workgroups. Why that was so I did not know, but during the weekends the mealtime groupings were less predictable. Perhaps it was because a greater percentage of those onsite were actually off duty.

During the week I usually ate at a table with my supervisory team including the foremen and leading hands. The only protocol in place as far as I was concerned was that I would not discuss specific work-related matters while I was eating. I would make arrangements to meet someone for a later discussion but, unless it was an emergency, I would not talk work. Before I had taken a firm stand about not talking work during meals I had been inundated with workers taking the chance to talk to the boss. On one occasion when I had unwisely responded to a worker who approached me with a work-related query a queue of other workers had almost immediately formed behind him.

It had been even worse during the evening meal as many of the workers would have visited the bar before making their way to the dining room. I had a strict rule that no matter what the issue I would not talk work with anyone who had had even a sip of beer. Not just at meal times but even more so when I made one of my infrequent brief visits to the bar.

I’m no wowser but I’m certainly no barfly either. But at the same time I don’t feel obliged to imbibe just because I’d be excluded from a social group if I don’t. In any case the expression ‘in vino veritas’, in wine there is truth, could not be more wrong. In my experience it would be more accurate if the expression translated as ‘in wine there is nonsense’.

After lunch I walked across to my office to take a serious look at the cost report discrepancies. I wanted to check if it was merely a manual data input error. Technically, it was fairly straightforward. First I had to download the accounting data into an Excel worksheet. This was simple as I had access to the accounting data for the project. It was read-only access, I could download data but I couldn’t upload data to, or edit the existing data on, the system. I logged on and selected the ‘export data to Excel’ option. A few minutes later and I had an Excel file with the complete data dump.

Then I created additional linked worksheets to summarise the data into the same formats as produced within the accounting system reports. By three o’clock I had confirmed that I had all the accounting data correctly sorted in the Excel file. I then wrote some code and added it to the source code for my own program which enabled me to import the accounting data from the newly created Excel file. By five o’clock I was able to export the complete data set from the accounting system and import it into my construction management program.

The overall discrepancy was exactly the same as before. I’d just spent four hours confirming what I already knew. But I had made progress, I could now identify where the discrepancies originated at the data level. What I had found disturbed me deeply. But, I now had somewhere to start when I met with the project accountant the following morning.

***

Leonie Wran had no knowledge of the construction management software program I had developed and relied upon to discover the discrepancy. She had assumed that it was an Excel spreadsheet that I had created and she, not unreasonably, had assumed that it was highly likely that there was an error in the spreadsheet.

I guess that she thought that she could quickly demonstrate to me the error of my ways and get back to the real accounting work. I had no problem with her attitude. Even though she thought that she had things covered she listened to me attentively as I began to describe the situation as I saw it.

“Leonie, I have downloaded the full cost data from the accounting system into an Excel file…”

She was visibly surprised and interrupted me by blurting out. “Why? How? You could have simply asked me to download a report for you. Or even just printed out a selection of our reports yourself.”

I smiled. “I had time to spare over the weekend and I wanted to check that the discrepancy was not due to an error during the manual input of data. As it turned out I discovered the source of the discrepancy. Or should I say sources of the discrepancies.”

She clearly wasn’t satisfied with my response and said rather snappishly. “That doesn’t explain why you felt compelled to download the data from my accounting system.”

This time I didn’t smile. “Actually if the accounting data belongs to any single person then I am that person.” I put a hand up in the air to forestall an angry response that I could see coming. “No, Leonie we are not going to enter into a pointless debate about whose data it is. Suffice it to say, I am authorised to download the data and that is what I did. I wanted to check three things. First, had there been an error in the data entry. The answer is; perhaps. That is a point that I will come back to in a minute. Second, I wanted to check if you had reconciled the accounting records with the weekly project statements from subcontractors.
The answer to that is that you had. Your accounting totals were the same as the total of the weekly statements. Third, I wanted to check your accounting records with my own records of the weekly statements. There I did find a major problem. There is almost $500,000 difference.” She sat silently staring at me with a stunned expression. After a few moments I said in a voice devoid of emotion. “Houston, we have a problem!”

Eventually she asked, “Are you sure?”

“I’m certain.” I had been watching her carefully. She was either a consummate actor or she was as much in the dark as I was. Deciding to take a chance that she was not involved in what I believed to be a major fraud I added, “But let me show you.” I fired up my construction management program. “I’ll cut to the chase. First this is the summary of the weekly statements recorded with your accounting data.” As I spoke I displayed a series of screens that presented a dollar amount coupled with a contract name, date and the name of a contractor. “Now here is the list of weekly statements that have been approved by me and recorded in my program.” Again as I spoke I displayed another series of screens presenting lines of data similar to the previous screens. “Now here’s the kicker. I am now going to display a screen listing the differences between the two sets of data.” I then displayed a single screen with lines of data similar to the previous screens. Clicking a command button on the screen the printer on a table in the corner of my office stirred to life. Pointing at the printer I said, “That is a copy of what is on the screen. It shows fifteen weekly statements recorded in the accounting records of which I have no knowledge. You can be assured that I didn’t authorise them for payment.”

She was plainly bewildered. “But…but how can that be?”

“That is what we have to find out. After reconciling some payments still to be processed, the amount at the bottom of the screen is the total discrepancy. Those fake statements average almost $33,000.”

Leonie finally lost her composure and almost wailed. “But you must have signed them. How else could they be entered into the accounting system?”

“As I said before. That is what you and I have to find out.”

“You are certain that you didn’t authorise them?”

I replied a little testier than I had intended. “Leonie, it’s no use grasping at straws. I did not authorise those weekly statements. We are going to get nowhere if you can’t accept that point. If necessary I will have you removed from the project and bring in someone who will work with me on this. Let me be clear. If it turns out that you have been either dishonest or incompetent I will hang you out to dry. However, I don’t think that you are dishonest or incompetent. That’s why I’m seeking to work with you on this.”

She instantly responded, “No. No. I’m sorry. It’s just such a shock. I accept what you say. I can do this. I need to do this.”

“Okay. First thing. You need to track down the originals of each of those bogus weekly statements. But whatever you do you must ensure that no one else knows about this. Absolutely no one. Is that clear?”

“Yes. Of course. I understand.” She gestured to the stack of document folders that she had brought in with her and said, “They’ll all be here.” After referring to the list that I had printed she then started rummaging through one of the folders. A few moments later she extracted a single sheet of paper and held it up for me to see, saying “Here’s one.” A signature remarkably like mine was at the bottom of the page.

As I was reaching out to grasp the document I realised that if I had signed it then it would have my fingerprints on it. But if it was a forgery then it would not. So, instead of taking it from her extended hand I said, “Leonie. Fingerprints. Please place it on the desk. We both need to get a pair of gloves before we continue.”

Wide-eyed, she placed the sheet of paper on my desk as I had asked.

“Please go and get some clear plastic pockets so that we can protect the documents as you extract them from your folders. I’ll get one of the storemen to bring some cotton gloves across to the office.”

A few minutes later a man arrived with four pairs of white cotton gloves and a stores receipt for me to sign. Leonie arrived just as he was leaving. She had a wad of A4 sized, clear plastic pockets in her hand. After putting on a pair of gloves she commenced sorting through the folders. As she extracted a document she placed it in a separate plastic pocket on the desk in front of me. Some were single sheets but most were two or more sheets that had been stapled together.
One by one I picked them up and examined them. Where they comprised more than a single page I gingerly removed the document to examine the signature page. They were all the same. Each one had what looked like my signature at the bottom along with a date. They looked legitimate. They all appeared to have been countersigned by one or other of my supervisory staff. Either an engineer, an inspector or a quantity surveyor. Since I knew that I had not signed at the bottom of the page then it was probable that the counter-signatures were forged also.

***

When she had finished extracting all fifteen of the dubious weekly statements, she proceeded to examine each of them in turn. When she had looked at them all she said musingly. “Well the signature looks very much like yours. It sure is a good forgery.”

I had been thinking the same thing. It might be difficult to convince everyone that my signature had been forged. I then recalled my initial thought. The signatures were all alike. Maybe too alike. I picked up two of the documents, placed one over the other and held them up to the light. Then sliding one against the other I aligned my signatures. When I saw that they matched perfectly I exclaimed, “Bingo!” One by one I then proceeded to check each of the signatures. They were all an exact match.

Looking up at Leonie I asked, “Would you mind extracting a couple of the other weekly statements from the folders for me?”

She did so without making any comment. I then compared my signatures on the genuine weekly statements. The two signatures were not identical. Similar but not identical. Slight differences could be readily discerned. I passed the genuine documents across to Leonie and said, “Compare the signatures and tell me if you think that they are identical.”

She had been watching what I had done and knew what I meant. Moments later she responded, “No. They’re very similar but definitely not identical.”

I gestured to the stack of false documents. “Now check each of those signatures with each other.”

It took several minutes before she finished checking each one carefully. Looking back at me she said, “They are absolutely identical. How can that be?”

I grinned and said, “The forged documents have been signed by a computer, the signatures are too exact to be real. I think that we will find the same for the co-signatures. Someone has probably scanned a signature of mine and is using a computer program to print it onto the documents. They might have used some sort of CAD plotting software.”

Leonie nodded slowly. “I can see that now. So, where do we go from here? What should we do?” Her face was now a study in worry. I felt sorry for her. She was probably wondering if she had been at fault, and what the consequences might be.

I had been asking myself the very same question and asked rhetorically. “What do we do next?”

My words hung in the air for a moment before I answered my own question. “Well, first we need to sort out who had the information and access necessary to pull this off. There is one aspect that gives us a clue. All of the bogus statements have been set at amounts that ensure that the total expenditure for each sub-contract will not exceed the target amount that I have set. Those target amounts have been set by me for my own project monitoring purposes. They are known to my supervisory team but not disclosed to the contractor or to the Accounts Department. Sadly that seems to indicate that at least one of my team is involved. But he couldn’t do it on his own. I can’t see him carrying it out without the help of someone working in the Accounts Department.”