The Fund's True Scope
Chapter 08 - The Fund's True Scope
Special Agent Diego Salazar's investigation continued expanding over the following weeks, forensic accountants tracing the fund's full operational history back nearly seven years, confirming the considerably larger scope Marisol had warned Evelyn about.
"We've identified eighty-three victims so far," Salazar told Evelyn, during a formal briefing at the base's investigative offices. "Total losses currently estimated at just over eleven point six million dollars, though we expect that number to grow as additional victims come forward."
"How did he sustain this for seven years without detection," Evelyn asked. "Surely someone should have noticed the pattern sooner."
"He was careful," Salazar said. "Structured payouts to early investors using new investors' contributions, a classic pattern that sustains itself for years as long as new victims keep entering the fund. Linda's position on the Veterans Family Alliance board provided a steady pipeline of new, trusting contacts, along with the organization's own credibility to lend legitimacy to the entire operation."
"What was her actual role," Evelyn asked. "Beyond providing contacts."
"Considerable," Salazar said. "Financial records show she personally handled a significant portion of the fund's outreach materials, and several victims specifically cite her involvement in convincing them of the fund's legitimacy, using her own decades of charitable work as implicit credibility."
Evelyn absorbed this, understanding now the full, calculated partnership her husband and mother-in-law had built together, using every ounce of trust the military community extended to families like her own, weaponizing it systematically for years.
"What happens to the recovered assets," Evelyn asked. "If any exist."
"We've identified approximately two point three million dollars in traceable assets," Salazar said. "Property, vehicles, several investment accounts. That will go toward restitution, though I want to be direct with you that it represents only a fraction of the total losses. Most victims will likely recover only a small percentage of what they originally invested."
Evelyn sat with that, feeling the specific, sickening weight of understanding that even complete legal accountability would never fully restore what had actually been taken from eighty-three families who had trusted her husband specifically because of her own hard-earned reputation.
"I want to contribute personally," she said. "Whatever assets are legally mine, separate from the fund itself, I want made available toward restitution."
Marisol, present for the meeting, made a careful note. "That's a significant decision, Evelyn. I want you to understand the full financial implications before you commit to anything formally."
"I understand them," Evelyn said. "I've spent my entire career telling young soldiers that accountability means more than words. I don't intend to say something different now, simply because the accountability required happens to be considerably more expensive than I'd prefer."
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Salazar nodded, something like genuine respect crossing his professional composure. "That's a rare response, Colonel. Most spouses in your position focus considerably more energy on distancing themselves from their partner's actions than on actively contributing toward repair."
"I'm not interested in distance," Evelyn said. "I'm interested in making sure every family my husband hurt understands, clearly, that someone in this situation actually intends to help make it right."
