Chapter 19 - The Foundation Audit
The federal audit lasted six months.
Investigators identified forty-three fraudulent scholarship applications.
Some identities belonged to real military children.
Others were invented.
Families submitted applications and were told they had been denied.
Their scholarship money went to accounts controlled by Derek and Celeste.
Frank contacted every affected family personally.
He apologized even though he had not stolen the money.
He believed leadership required responsibility for what happened under his name.
Sarah helped rebuild the review process.
Independent trustees.
Dual approvals.
Direct payments to schools.
No family member controlling accounts alone.
Recovered assets restored most of the missing funds.
The foundation sold Derek’s North Carolina property after proving it was purchased with donations.
Children who had been rejected received retroactive awards.
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Michael’s name no longer felt contaminated by Derek’s theft.
It became the reason the system grew stronger.
