Chapter 16
Chapter 16 – The Federal Knock
"Mrs. Catherine Montgomery?"
The woman who spoke didn't smile. She held up a gold shield encased in a black leather wallet, her eyes cold and analytical. "I am Special Agent Vance with the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. This is Special Agent Miller."
"Can I help you, Agent Vance?" I asked, keeping my voice as level as a marble floor, though my pulse was racing at a dangerous speed.
"We have a federal warrant authorizing the immediate review of your personal financial records and those of the Albert & Catherine Montgomery Trust," she said, stepping past me into my hallway without waiting for an invitation. Agent Miller followed her, carrying a heavy, industrial-grade laptop case.
Within five minutes, they had transformed my dining room table into a federal interrogation site. Maya was upstairs with the children, her door locked as per my strict instructions.
"An hour ago, our office finalized a cooperation agreement with a key witness inside the state correctional system," Agent Vance said, opening a sleek black folder. "A sworn statement from Emily Lawson Montgomery alleges that your current property, along with the funding for the Albert & Catherine Montgomery Sewing Academy, was purchased using illicitly diverted funds from an offshore shell entity known as the Elaine Foundation."
"The Elaine Foundation was established by my late husband, Agent Vance," I said, sitting opposite her, my spine perfectly straight. "I only became aware of its existence last week. My attorney, Oliver Samson, is currently preparing a full disclosure filing for your office."
"Discovery after the fact does not absolve you of liability, Mrs. Montgomery," Agent Miller said, his tone dry and aggressive. "According to the corporate charter we seized from Montgomery Enterprises' backup servers, the initial capital for that foundation was listed as an 'undisclosed family asset' in 1996. If those funds were hidden to evade the fifty percent federal estate tax tier, your entire trust is legally considered the fruit of a poisonous tree."
Agent Vance leaned forward, her eyes locking onto mine like a vice. "If we find that you signed any authorization forms connecting the trust to that foundation prior to this month, we have the authority to initiate an immediate administrative asset freeze. This house, your retirement accounts, the academy's bank assets—everything goes into federal custody by Friday morning. You will be left with nothing but the clothes on your back while we prosecute."
May you like
Forty-eight hours. They were giving me forty-eight hours to prove I wasn't a criminal master-mind.
"We need the original, unedited funding articles from 1996, Mrs. Montgomery," Agent Vance said, standing up and closing her folder. "Not copies. The original documents with the certified wet signatures from the bank of origin. If they aren't on my desk in the federal building by Friday at 9:00 a.m., the freeze orders go live."
