Chapter 10 - Marcella’s father
Marcella’s father, Vittorio DeLuca, was my father’s younger brother.
Dead six years.
Heart failure.
He loved Marcella fiercely.
He also raised her to believe family institutions existed partly for family members.
When the foundation received donated event inventory, he used to joke:
“Nothing truly leaves the family.”
Emilia hated that.
She introduced policies.
Independent audits.
Custody records.
Conflict rules.
Vittorio called her:
“the accountant queen.”
She was an attorney.
He did not care.
After Vittorio died, Marcella became more involved in the foundation.
Emilia initially supported it.
Why?
Marcella was excellent at donor relationships.
After Emilia died from metastatic melanoma when Elowen was two, I leaned heavily on anyone who could keep familiar systems running.
Marcella became executive director permanently.
There was no conspiracy beginning at that appointment.
No master plan.
Opportunity grew.
One donated item was incorrectly marked withdrawn.
Marcella later said she took it home intending to return it.
Then sold it after personal debt increased.
What debt?
Divorce.
Legal fees.
A condo renovation.
Lifestyle.
Not poverty.
Once the first theft produced no immediate alarm, she did it again.
Then again.
Each act normalized the next.
Same mechanism as many ordinary fraud cases.
May you like
No genius.
Incremental permission given by prior success.
