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I was in the financial services industry on the lending side. I was in the mortgage underwriting industry for about 17 years. I loved what I did. I loved the analytical side of things.
One day, I came home from work to find a pre-printed note taped to my garage door. It stated that the U.S. Department of Justice wanted to talk to me, and I needed to contact them immediately. Not only did the developer commit fraud, others within my organization did so as well, and I was in the middle of a very scary quagmire.
Although I was a witness to a white collar crime, I was not sure if prosecutors would see things my way. So I turned to an attorney friend of mine who referred me to Mr. Horowitz. She said, “You cannot talk to the U.S. government by yourself because you don’t know what’s going to happen.” She felt his past experience as a U.S. prosecutor would be beneficial to me.
Mr. Horwitz articulately described my position and clearly and effectively communicated this to the U.S. District Attorney’s office as well as other related parties. I sat with Mark, and he explained the entire process to me and advised me to not talk to anybody about it.
He’s very efficient. He can navigate you through the process in a minimal amount of time, and there were no charges ever filed. I had to work with the United States government as a witness. You never know if they’re going to turn against you, even under that scenario.
… wonder if today’s the day that something’s going to pop up or regarding this, and is going to stay a positive course. Is it going turn, and they went after the people on the opposite side of the table having to do with the developer and marketing firm.
And the U.S. government got a plea agreement. The one last job that I had to do was to be available to testify. I had to be a witness, and at the last minute, Mark called me up and said, “Cecelia, that’s it. It’s all over with. Everybody plead. You don’t even have to be a witness now because everybody pled.”
And I go, “You mean it’s all over with?” He goes, “It’s all over with. It’s done. They’re not coming after you. They’ve prosecuted everybody they want to prosecute and gotten agreements. The trial’s canceled.”
And for me not even having to be a witness, I couldn’t believe that. I could not believe that. I feel like an elephant has been lifted off my back. I feel like it’s a new beginning again. If it improves your quality of life and changes your outlook and puts a smile on your face and gives you a more positive attitude towards life.