Firing Fact Checkers

The following story is real. I was a part of it. But not the part that counts.

 During summer recess in 1996 I shared an apartment in Denver with a guy from my college. I will call him Hal. I worked as a civil clerk at the Jefferson County Court in Golden, Colorado. Hal worked at Lowry Air Force Base as a painter. Hal came from a privileged background. He was tall, blond, and very good looking. He drove a brand new Pontiac Convertible. His major was industrial construction management - I hadn't a clue what that was. He revealed he a younger sister who was a patient at Ridge Home in Arvada, Colorado. For all the positives in his life, he had some demons as well. I remember coming home after work one day seeing him in the bathroom vomiting.  I saw a suicide note on the kitchen table. I did not all the police. He did not die. He was being a dramatic queen. We did not see each other after we returned to school although I called him once. He preferred to hang out with his fraternity friends.

I remember seeing him 13 years of  so later at a Christmas Gala Historic Denver in the old Union Station. We talked a bit. He wore  tux. Me a suit. I remember him sitting on the floor - drunk. I learned that he was in upper management at the mortgage company of the bank holding company where I also worked. Good for him. I met his wife. Wife? Yes. (I later learned she was from Denver society and liked nice things and that she pushed Hal into Denver Society. ) As soon as I heard Hal was married, I knew whatever he was involved in was fake. Real fake.

It was maybe a year of two later that I learned Hal had been arrested for embezzlement of  $589,823 from his employer and that a substantial portion of those embezzled funds had been used to construct and furnish the family residence. In his position as vice president of construction lending of the mortgage company, he was able to write checks without obtaining the approval of any other employee. Because he wrote checks on two accounts of which he was responsible, the embezzlement went on for more than a year. The court later determined that $190,000 was used to construct the family home. $40,000 was spent on furnishings, $13,000 on a Jaguar (move-up from Pontiac), and $3,200 to repay a private loan from a friend.

A guy I worked with in the bank loss prevention department told me that my Hal's wife came home early one afternoon and found Hal having sex with another man in the marital bed. She immediately filed for a divorce. Lots of money was spent by Hal, his ex-wife, and the mortgage company for years that followed.

The loss prevention guy told me the embezzlement went on for more than a year because Hal would re-assign or fire subordinates who raised questions. Then a new woman employee suspected something was fishy and went outside company protocol to report her suspicions. The embezzlement was revealed just as the divorce was rocking Hal's world.

Rules are established to keep honest people honest. Most obey. Some stray. Some, like Hal, devise ingenious plans to get away with things. Which leads me to my point. Trump fired four Inspectors General. They were fact checkers. I have more faith in rules than I do people. Nuff said.