Chapter 8 - The first fake invoice
My internal accountant Rachel Boone found something stranger.
A landscape invoice:
Bellweather Stone & Garden
Amount:
$184,000.
Actual vendor invoice:
$119,000.
Difference:
$65,000.
Why?
Maison Vale Studio had submitted a “project coordination version” that included:
Vendor management.
Design oversight.
Rush procurement.
Markup.
Could design firms charge markup?
Yes.
If disclosed.
Was it disclosed?
Our reimbursement arrangement allowed:
Direct third-party cost plus preapproved 12% coordination fee.
Not 54%.
Then another:
Pool furniture.
Actual supplier:
$72,000.
Maison Vale reimbursement request:
$108,000.
Another:
Lighting package.
Actual:
$41,000.
Submitted:
$62,000.
Pattern.
Did Delphine pocket all differences?
Maison Vale received reimbursement.
Then paid vendors.
The margin stayed in her company.
Some margin legitimate design compensation.
But household agreement already paid her company:
$18,000 monthly design retainer during renovation.
Double compensation possible.
My attorneys called it:
Potential overbilling.
Not theft until intent and contract interpretation were clear.
Then I found an email.
Delphine to Gavin:
Do not net reimbursements against capital schedule. I want gross contribution documented.
Gavin:
But the house reimbursed most of these.
Delphine:
May you like
The value came through my company. That is still my contribution.
She believed repetition could turn accounting into ownership.
