Chapter 20 - The Trial BeginsMichael rejected final plea offer.
Trial began eighteen months after aquarium.
Prosecutors presented financial case carefully.
No melodrama.
Invoices.
Bank records.
Shell companies.
Proxy fraud.
Forged engineering certificate.
Takeover memo.
Archive.
Adrian testified.
Kane testified under cooperation agreement.
Diego testified and admitted his own wrongdoing before defense could expose.
That made him stronger witness.
“You took eighty thousand dollars?”
“Yes.”
“You hid it?”
“Yes.”
“You lied to your brother?”
“Yes.”
“And now you want jury to trust you?”
“No.”
The defense attorney paused.
Diego continued:
“I want them to look at documents.”
Exactly.
Documents did not need him virtuous.
Sofia testified for two days.
Defense tried imply affair with Adrian.
She answered calmly.
“No.”
“You concealed meetings from husband?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside his organization was monitoring me.”
“And you suspected Michael?”
“Yes.”
“Yet you did not tell husband.”
“I believed he might confront Michael before evidence was protected.”
“Did you consider that deceptive?”
“Yes.”
The attorney smiled.
“So you did deceive Alejandro.”
“About an investigation.”
“Still deception.”
“Yes.”
Sofia refused rhetorical trap by admitting truth.
Then prosecutor asked:
“Did that give anyone right to invent an affair?”
“No.”
“Did it give your husband right to endanger you?”
“No.”
Simple.
Michael watched from defense table.
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Everything important was already public.
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