Chapter 6: The Liquidation in Manhattan
While Elena worked in the shipyard, the federal bankruptcy proceedings against Julian Castile and Meridian Capital reached their climax in the Southern District Court.
The forensic audit spearheaded by Arthur Sterling was devastating.
Julian had diverted over thirty-five million dollars from municipal infrastructure funds into offshore hedge entities to finance private jets, luxury penthouses, and non-existent green-energy patent portfolios.
Charlotte Sterling, having attempted to liquidate five million dollars in bearer bonds through an offshore trust in Liechtenstein, was barred from practicing corporate law for life and ordered to pay three million dollars in civil penalties.
Julian sat at the defense table stripped of his bespoke tailoring, wearing a plain grey department of corrections suit.
He was sentenced to seven years at a federal correctional facility in upstate New York and ordered to provide thirty million dollars in direct restitution to the pension funds of the West Virginia pipeline workers.
On the day of the final judgment, Arthur Sterling walked out of the federal courthouse into the autumn sunshine, carrying a sealed leather portfolio.
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He declined interviews with sixty waiting journalists, stepped into his town car, and told the driver: ""Take the Taconic Parkway north to Cold Spring.""
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