STORY 92

I worked in manufacturing in an executive position when I was made aware of instances where invoices were inflated to submit to various government agencies to receive grants and loans. A subordinate came to me and told me that "the boss" was asking her to inflate insurance claims to recoup more money from some storm damage to the factory. He found out that we were talking about it and then accused us of "stealing" from the company, upwards of $300K - which was a ridiculous sum if you knew the industry and just happened to be the same number as the extra he was trying to claim from the insurance company. I wasn't supposed to know about the accusation but a colleague informed me and advised me to get a lawyer. I took my evidence to a lawyer and sued for damages and won. We both signed NDA's to limit what we could say about the incident but he still manages to smear my reputation when he's asked about why I'm no longer with the company by saying "I'm under investigation" and he will let everyone know once the investigation is concluded. There is no investigation. Unfortunately, he's a high profile, charismatic businessman who is put forward by all levels of government as a shining example of the opportunities that our country provides and people pay a lot of money to hear him tell his story. I can't even let the insurance company or grant agencies know of the fraud. I have to move on like nothing happened and he gets to pretend I never existed.