CHAPTER 31

Redacted Witness Five, former Palin Accounting employee Jane Smith, was called to the stand next.

Smith was in her mid-fifties and had a quiet demeanor. She was well-dressed, had short-cropped gray hair, and a healthy figure. She contemplated each question and took her time to respond. While it was a good look in a courtroom, Hennessy would’ve hated to have a drink with her. Any conversation would’ve been infuriatingly slow.

“Can you please describe your role in Palin Accounting?”

A long pause. “I was employed as a taxation consultant for Palin Accounting for five years before I resigned. My role included assisting businesses, organizations, and foundations in navigating the complexities of federal, state, and local tax laws. I provided advice on tax planning strategies to minimize liabilities while ensuring compliance with all relevant laws. My specialty was in payroll tax, but I also advised on corporate tax, income tax, property tax, and sales tax. I also represented clients during audits. Currently, I work for a large accounting firm in Savannah.”

“On the day you resigned, were you the only person to resign?”

“No. The entire office quit on that day. There were ten employees of Palin Accounting, and we all quit on the same day. We walked in on Monday morning, left a letter of resignation each on our desks, and walked back out.”

“Was it a coincidence that all ten staff members of Palin Accounting quit on the same day?”

“No. Mr. Palin was terrible to work for, but over the last year, he got even worse. He would often come into work drunk, smoked in his office, and he was always yelling at us. He slapped me on the behind one time, and I saw him try to grope another two of the female staff members. One day, I found one junior staff member in the restroom crying. When I asked her what was wrong, she said that Mr. Palin had groped her breasts and said they weren’t big enough. She quit that afternoon. I offered to take her to the police to file a report, but she declined. And then one Saturday, after one of the junior staff members had her bottom groped by Mr. Palin, two senior staff members called for a meeting. We met at a café and planned a mass walkout two weeks later.”

Garrett let that statement linger in the courtroom for a while. He was trying to establish that Palin was immoral, corrupt, and abusive. It was working. One of the female jury members scrunched her face up whenever she looked at Palin.

“Mrs. Smith, during your time with Palin Accounting, did you notice any unusual transactions?”

Another long pause. “Yes. I noticed a lot of transactions that could be deemed unusual. There were unusual transactions happening with most of the clients, and before I resigned, I noticed there was unusual transactions with the Wolfgang Berger Foundation account. There was money being transferred to pay for invoices for work that hadn’t been conducted, such as consulting services that were never provided.”

“Can you please explain the process of approval for transfers of this nature?”

“There were no processes of approval for transactions like that. Mr. Palin had the final say on everything.”

“How do you know those services weren’t provided?”

“Because the invoices had my name on them. The invoices stated I provided the services to the Wolfgang Berger Foundation, even though I never talked to them. One invoice was worth $15,000 dollars. I never did that work, and I never advised them on their tax practices. I was angry that he was using my name to defraud other companies and foundations.”

“So, you never performed the work?”

“No, I didn’t do any work for the Foundation.”

“If you were so angry, what did you do about it?”

“I raised the invoice with Mr. Palin, but he told me to stay quiet and forget about it. He told me it was an error and he’d fix it. He never talked to me about it again.”

“And who had final approval of those invoices?”

“Mr. Palin signed off on those invoices.”

“Did Mr. Palin ever instruct you to act in a way that would be considered unethical?”

“He made me charge more money than I did hours. In some instances, he suggested I charge double the billable hours, but I was uncomfortable with this. He said he would sack me if I didn’t, and threatened to tell any future employer that I was a terrible employee.”

“At any point, did Mr. Palin try to keep information private and away from you?”

“Yes. He tried to keep lots of invoices private from me, even though they were attributed to my earnings within the firm.”

Garrett asked Jane Smith several more questions, but the damage was done early. It was becoming clear that Palin conducted his business fraudulently and had no moral compass. The weight of evidence was building, and it was starting to convince the jury of Palin’s guilt.

When invited by the judge, Hennessy stood and walked to the lectern.

“Mrs. Smith, was Mr. Palin the only person who had the authorization to transfer money from the Wolfgang Berger Foundation?”

“No. The most senior accountant in the office, Mr. John Tilly, also had access to the accounts.”

“And did multiple staff members have access to the system used to create the reports presented to the Foundation?”

“Yes.”

“Was Mrs. Fisher one of those staff members who had access?”

“Yes.”

“Can you please tell the court about the relationship between Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher?”

“They were having an affair. It was rumored for a long time, and they confirmed it after we quit. The entire time I was working there, they were having an affair.”

“And who were the two senior staff members who organized the mass walkout?”

“Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher organized it after Mr. Palin groped one of the junior staff members.”

Hennessy nodded. “Did Mr. Tilly or Mrs. Fisher talk to you about what they were going to do after the mass walkout?”

“They chatted informally about retiring to a ranch in Texas. They both loved Texas, and it seemed to be a common goal of theirs.”

“Are you aware of where they are now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’ve been reported as missing persons.”

Hennessy nodded. The case against Tilly and Fisher was building. “No further questions.”