April’ 2003,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough, NY.

It had been more than twenty four hours since Vivek admittance in the ICU at the infirmary. Several inspections were being progressed to sort the things out for the patriarch of the Hadars. Aryan and Rekha had no news from the doctors up until then. No food, no home, none of somebody has come to their rescue, it was just Vivek’s wife and his son, and Shalini’s presence needs no explicit mention, they were the only kindred’s in attendance. Three of them were in the same clothes since their arrival. Aryan with tousled hair was seated in the lounge, his skin had no moisture and it allowed the dust to settle in the creases in different portions. His red eyes appeared to be sunken with lightly dark circles lining up in the under eye area. A fatigued look manifested itself patently on his face. He wrapped the only jacket around his neck and lay there on a chair brooding over a fracas. While Shalini stayed with Aryan in the lounge, Rekha was not available in the vicinity. She had left to arrange some money for the treatment.

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“Aryan,” Rekha arrived hurriedly, “has the doctor’s got us anything?” she asked. A sense of optimism spurted but Aryan knew it would only leave her in dismay the split second, “Nothing! Not yet”, he said, “have you got any money”, he asked digressing her from gloomy outlook. “Yes, I’ve got enough,” Aryan was relieved when she answered. We have some money now for the treatment Aryan thought but he couldn’t think too much on the source of ready money. Are we safe to carry out this treatment? He questioned himself and an unequivocal answer ‘Yes’ from his mind only condensed on the dubiety. The sentience failed his acuity to question any further but the truths… will find their way.

It was in the afternoon and the clock ticked two, Aryan caught sight of the doctor coming out of the ICU. He did see him and others swing back and forth at times but at that instant he had expected him to communicate on the condition of Vivek and the doctor did, “Rekha, can you please come along with me, you too Aryan,” said the doctor motioning his hand to his chamber. After the three of them occupied their seats the doctor continued, “We have done the diagnostics and he had been suffering with celiac disease,” the doctor informed both. Aryan was unrestrained with his trepidation, he flicked his gaze on to Rekha. He noticed no sense of consternation as she kept her composure alive and attentively lend her ears to the doctor, “I must say the disease has reached its zenith”. “What do you mean doc?” Rekha enquired, “Vivek wasn’t supposed to be in the locus, not lately,” She disagreed with the doctor swaying her head and said, “He was doing pink in his health until recently,” she paused. Rekha went back in time to incisively stack up on the instances where Vivek fell sick. She heaped up only a nought, “No doc, I am fairly confident that he haven’t fallen ill in his health for a significant period of time,”

“Rekha,” the doctor uttered, “I am afraid to divulge that Vivek hid the fact from you since a long time,” The doctor got up from his brown-leather Aeron chair, “Vivek has been suffering with type-1 diabetes since his adult age. Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease are both immune-mediated conditions. Diabetes is diagnosed first because the symptoms tend to be obvious and to diagnose celiac, it is done through periodic screening. 10% of people suffer with celiac if they are diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and I was having reservations with Vivek’s health condition then, sadly, the periodic screenings did prove it on my intentions. He was being on a gluten-free diet since eight years or so now. However, I am skeptical about his truthfulness on his diet otherwise we wouldn’t have you, Hadars, here in my office talking over the issue,”

“What is celiac?” Rekha asked. “It is an autoimmune disorder. If your intestine are very sensitive to gluten, like people affected with celiac, when they consume this protein rich foods like wheat, rye and barley, the body ascends an immune response attacking the intestine. They damage the villi, responsible for the absorption of nutrients into the body. This pulls off various malfunctioning of body cells. The damage is done at a slow pace and that’s the reason why it is very difficult to diagnose the disease in early stages,”

“But what triggers it?” Aryan stepped in. “Could be many reasons, type-1 diabetes overlaps with celiac because of same genetic profile. Generically, a genetic disorder or a viral infection or a surgery or an emotional traumatic stress could be possible reasons for the disease,”

“So doctor, what do you think we should do to save him,” Rekha asked, “right now, what we can only do is,” He walked back to his Aeron, “put him under medication for a month and strict gluten-free diet (GFD), observe his response to the medicines,” the doctor suggested, “get him for periodic check-up. Once every week and it’s a must,” he stressed.

“Alright doc, when can we take him home?” Rekha asked. “Today, you can take him today. We are done for now,” he said.

Nearly half of what they had had been paid out in charges. Aryan saw it vividly, they had to save every nickel or dime from then on for his treatment. Aryan thought that it would eventually cost them loads of money, and with what they had then, it wouldn’t be sufficient in the due course of time for them to accommodate their living and for his treatment. Our lives had fallen in trough.

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“… You are not leaving me for anywhere,” Shalini uttered, “we can go to my house, you have always been my family. I live alone and it shouldn’t really be a worry to any of us,” Shalini suggested. At first, the Hadars were hesitant to be consonant with her but it didn’t take any longer for either of them to come out of the abyss and realise the propinquity the Hadars shared with Shalini. At the end of the day, they agreed to go with her. Shouldn’t be for a long time; just until I earn a living for the family Aryan twirled the thoughts in his mind.

“Aryan,” Shalini interrupted his ponder, “Car has arrived, we should go”, She gestured. “Dad?” he asked. “He is in the car already,” she said. Vivek was laid down in the second row of the passenger seat in the MUV while Rekha was compelled by Aryan to rest in the back seat for a wink of sleep. Aryan posited himself in the shot-gun accompanying Shalini in the ride. “Aryan,” Shalini gave a nudge on his triceps, “it’s gonna be fine dear, it’s just the time. You see it? The time,” she pushed the accelerator. The time Aryan shut eyes the time he repeated in his mind.

April’ 2003,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough, NY.

“Kalki called me an hour back”, Rekha said. “Oh that’s great, what’s up?” Aryan asked. “Nothing much, a routine call. We spoke about your visit to the city the other day,” Rekha replied. “She started phoning you very often lately”, he asked, “Isn’t she?”

“Oh yeah! She takes pleasure in talking with me” Rekha said. “Just like in talking to me” Aryan snap back. While they were engaged in talking and lounging in the living room Aryan heard a tocsin approaching the entrance of the house.

Three MUV’s, couple of SUV’s and Coupes, came to a standstill in the foyer. The security personnel were rendered speechless with the arrival of the automobiles. Never had they ever seen large congregation of vehicles slewing in a gust inside the edifice on an odd time period. Aryan was easy in his minds that everything at home was in fine fettle and up to the snuff. He wondered what would be the reason for their arrival.

“Excuse me,” said an officer dressed in utterly business casual attire except with a navy blue jacket emblazoned with the FBI seal, “This is FBI! We have a notice in a corporate fraud and an FIR filed against Mr. Vivek Hadar, the full time CFO for the SS Chemical Industry, a Germany based company established by Shekar, an USAn origin Founder and current CEO. We have to bring in your husband for an inquisition, now if you please excuse us,” he said but Rekha interposed herself into scene.

“Mr. Officer, your investigation needs an approval from the district magistrate,” she said getting herself on to feet composing tranquillity, “Now if you don’t mind,” she trod towards the senior agent, “could you please show me the warranted papers,” she said extending her palm out.

“I am sorry Mrs. Vivek, the district magistrate has no appertain over the issue. Your assertion is valid when we investigate a corruption or a real-estate fraud or an insurance fraud likewise and there are variants though, it’s intricate complexities in the law and I am not under any legal obligation to talk it out at this time,” the officer continued, “but you can have a look at the clearance from the federal govt. for the investigation on the offence, here” he said surrendering legal papers to Rekha. At the same minutes, Vivek was on his way on the staircase into the living room. The house was in absolute chaos, none of the family members in addition to valets, retainers, lackeys had seen the light about the happening. “Mr. Vivek, would you please go through the papers and confirm on’em,” the senior agent uttered as he realised the attendance of Vivek. The official handed over a ten paged legal papers taken out of a docket to him. In the intervening period Rekha stepped in, “Mr. Officer, what is the problem here?”

“Mrs. Vivek, the company for which your husband serves as the CFO has undertaken a massive fraud by capitalising the cost which should have been expensed. The company under the supervision of CFO failed to account for the total expenses in a current period and in addition they have produced a report with the expenses spread over several years helping the company to capitalise on its cost. They marked these expenses as long term investments and misclassified the actual expenses of the company. Apparently $2 billion expenses we’re undocumented making them showcase as the assets of the company,”

“What?” Rekha in all respects was disconcerted by the facts, “that cannot be the case,” she took the stance of defence, “It had only been weeks since his assignation as the full time CFO. Prior to it he was an acting CFO and I’d like to let you know that he had never taken a wrong step during his entire tenure because if truth be told, he was literally an ‘acting CFO’. He never cared to look up on the financial affairs of the company, every declaration on each penny was all done by the sub-ordinate officials under the current CEO,” she communicated distinctly.

“I am sorry Mrs. Vivek, we have evidence…”, the officer pointed to the wad of legal papers with Vivek while he was holding with his right hand scuffling to ingest the content of the paper, the officer continued, “…that reads, Mr. Vivek, himself agreed and signed the document for the mismanagement he undertook in the financial accounts of the company,”

“What the heck?” Rekha was baffled with the officer’s allegation, “My husband is innocent, and he had never signed such an agreement without my knowledge. You must be mistaken”, Rekha casted her eyes over Vivek and asked “Vivek what have you got to say?”

“Rekha, this document professes that I have accepted the fraud. It imputes the censure to the family of Hadars”, Vivek plummeted to the ground in an inordinate disbelief on what he had perused. Rekha and Aryan scampered towards him in a haste.

“We comply to our orders and we request you to vacate the house in an hour”, the agent said, Rekha was appalled at the Hadars incompetence and had the hunch of a gun shot fired at the point blank. The agent continued, “We’d be seizing the property including all your belongings in restitution”, he motioned to his comrades “The case had been registered under the civil asset forfeiture. So, we have no charges to file against the Hadars except to seize the property,”

Beads of sweat appeared on the forehead of Aryan, “The law enforcement is a heck in civilians’ lives,” he busted out in frenzy of ire, “what’s a civil forfeiture?” he questioned the agent from FBI.

“Mr. Aryan,” the agent checked on his identity. Aryan nodded and the agent continued, “Civil Forfeiture ratifies law enforcement to seize the property and any other gains appropriated illegitimately or that has been involved in certain criminal activity. The owner of the assets and securities doesn’t need to be felonious. The tool takes charge only over the property and not on the proprietor,”

“But we are innocent,” Rekha interjected his discourse. “You can be totally innocent and that doesn’t stop the govt. from conducting its legal proceedings. To bring into the light, the ‘innocent owner defense’ is not constitutionally required under the jurisdiction of Supreme Court,” he elucidated.

“How do I challenge the forfeiture?” Rekha asked in an immoderate aggravation. “Never mind!” the agent blurted out, “I suggest you to chop up your aspirations. Under over a sufficiently long career, I have been a bystander for several owners hankering to claim their property and securities back,” he walked towards the couch with a smirk and flumped, “None of them had been successful and if you wish to play the odds against my suggestion, you do have your freedom,” he leaned back on the backrest, “but please be abreast of the fact that the assets and securities will be held liable for the crime until you prove the innocence out of your allegation with a testimony. To be precise with your case, you will be under the moral imperative to manifest on your unawareness of Hadars indulgence in a misappropriation or that you had taken lawful stance judiciously to abort any acts proscribed under the law,” he finished his disquisition.

Vivek didn’t throb his cells and nerves after plummeting to the ground. Vivek stayed cold with the drool spouting from his mouth. “Vivek,” Rekha shrieked but he remained unresponsive. “Daddy,” Aryan squealed in a state of dizziness, his nostril flared. Vivek looked terrified with the conviction be holding a lot of pressure on his chest and he felt difficulty in breathing. Couple of the lackeys accompanied Aryan with Vivek and in seconds they were inside the Rolls Royce.

Rekha flitted nervously her eyes on Aryan, a twinge of panic ran through his bowels. On one side, they were asked to vacate the house in an hour leaving no choice and time to be thoughtful for acting and on the other side, Vivek had drowned in a health issue and Aryan didn’t even know how substantial it was with his father. He was wandering in the middle of nowhere. Rekha was dejected and screamed all through her heart out. Aryan knew how strong she was and yet he saw her in a traumatized state. Never had he seen, not even in his wildest dreams, with an ocean of tears pouring out from her eyes. He persisted being in passive for everything that was happening to the family of Hadars. He was utterly terrified; that only sent a shudder down his spine. He was trembled in losing consciousness, and he perceived everything around him to be dead dark. He could only see Rekha moaning and Vivek laid down in the back seat sombre. He shut his eyes and Kalki flashed in to the picture. He was reminded of her words, whenever you feel you are in danger, join your hands, feel the presence of God in your heart, with all the respect and trust, pray for him and for the first time ever, he joined his hands and spoke in an undertone, God, save us.

April’ 2003,
Midtown, Manhattan Borough, NY.

“This is the plot from the last decade showing us the number of cases in each category investigated by the FBI” an officer presented the statistics on the big screen in the meeting room, “it is evident that we see the fraud rate is going up gradually with slight ups and downs especially across corporate, securities and financial investment sectors,” He paused and ran a glance over all the faces attending the conclave inside the room, “Corporate fraud cases have been steadily on high in about twenty three hundred cases annually. In contrast, investigations related to securities fraud spiked up in the recent years, exceeding the mark of the corporate frauds follows the financial crisis. It the creation of a complex investments structure by the corporate companies that is responsible for the inhibition of creating preventive measures. As a consequence, the early detection of such frauds has become strenuous for the securities and exchange commission lately.”

“Corporate fraud cases are one of a kind in the fraud schemes practiced by the companies, they involve accounting schemes designed to deceive the investors, shareholders, auditors and others regarding the financial status of the company. The restitution orders lying under our belt will sum up to more than a billion dollars spanning victims from individual investors to private or public firms. That proclaims and demonstrates the scale of losses for the victims” The officer belched mildly and continued, “The bureaucracy prospects that we leave no stones unreturned. Our department is with the stipulation to back our knacks in the light of not only in the perusal of fault representation of companies’ financial conditions but also in the inquests of the allegations involving insider trading,” He said, “We should have absolute intelligence in scanning profusion of cabals comprising financial intermediaries’ or board directors, auditors, who are predisposed to blow the gaff on the classified data deets”.

“To evince and substantiate the truth, yet again we have got another case in the same. The details of the CFO of the company were all faxed to the senior officer from the Advisory committee in SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). We should be taking a lead over the case by tomorrow late mornings,” the man nearing dotage communicated with the in-crowd personnel, “That’s it for the meet. You may wish to leave now, if there are no questions”.

“Chief, How about the apprising from the central govt.?” the captain asked.

“We are yet to receive it,” He replied, “we should be getting it by tomorrow morning and then we are authorised to carry on with the proceedings,”

“Alright! I will talk to the Sheriff,” The commander said and took leave.

Deputy Chief stepped in, “Also, look into the letter rogatory, it should be sent through the competent court under the provisions of 166-A of criminal procedure code. It may be necessary to conduct investigation abroad through Interpol and diplomatic channels; we need this letter of request.”