Helen
She unlocked the screen and saw a text from Callum.
Thought you might be interested in this article. It appeared in my finance news feed.
She clicked the link he’d shared. It took her to a page titled “ScandiSquare Capital faces SEC scrutiny over Barton & Co Brokers takeover valuation claims.”
Barton & Co. She was wide awake now. She scrolled down. The article was a long one. It might be easier to read it on her laptop. She gently moved Rocky off her lap and headed into the kitchen.
Once she’d opened the page in her laptop browser, she read it carefully.
There was a lot of legalese, but it implied there were some dodgy dealings over the share price.
Nigel would be in a position to benefit from that.
But it also mentioned a whistleblower shopping them to the SEC.
That Tuesday meeting had been to do with the SEC.
She thought back to the conversation with Carrie: “people don’t change their values”.
She needed a second opinion. Callum would be a good place to start. She picked up her phone and called him.
‘Hi, Mum.’
‘Hi, darling. Thanks for sending that article over. What do you think it means? Is it confirmation that Nigel’s been up to no good?’
‘Not necessarily. He might be implicated. But he could equally be the whistleblower. In fact, I’d say that’s more likely. ScandiSquare would’ve kept him on if he was in on it.’
‘I don’t even understand what “it” is.’
‘It’s a simple scam. ScandiSquare falsified their accounts so that their shares were valued far higher than they should’ve been. They took over Bartons via a share swap. One ScandiSquare share looked like it was worth 10 Barton ones, but really it was only worth 5.’
‘You’re confusing me now.’
‘If you owned 10 shares in Barton, after the transfer, you got given 1 ScandiSquare share in exchange.’
‘Oh, I see. But really I should’ve been given 2 shares?’
‘Correct.’
‘So they would’ve diddled me out of half my investment.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Bastards.’
‘But they’ve been caught, thanks to the whistleblower spotting it. And if that was Nigel, well done to him. I’m sure the ScandiSquare board hates him.’
‘But you can’t tell from the article whether he was the whistleblower or not.’
‘How much do you trust him, Mum?’
‘Before I found that appointment, 100%.’
And yet you automatically jumped to the conclusion that he was a crook. She felt ashamed that Angus’s actions were still having such a massive impact on her.
‘Perhaps you should talk to him,’ Callum said.