It had no employees.
No real office.
Yet the HOA had paid it nearly $18,000 over the previous year.
The invoices described services such as:
Compliance Support.
Infrastructure Coordination.
Resident Communications.
Security Assessment.
Every payment remained just below the amount requiring full board approval.
Andrea had never seen the invoices.
Neither had several board members.
Karen had controlled them herself.
Then investigators discovered something even more troubling.
The company had photographed residents' cameras, utility boxes, and sight lines.
Some of those photographs had been sent to another person.
A man named Derek Harper.
Derek Harper
Derek Harper owned a small IT installation company.
His company had performed work for several logistics firms whose systems had later been compromised.
Investigators already knew his name.
They had not yet connected him to Cedar Grove.
Now they did.
Karen's messages with Harper began innocently.
Questions about Wi-Fi coverage.
Neighborhood cameras.
Fiber installations.
Then they became specific.
Karen: Camera at 18 Cedar still sees west entrance.
Harper: Need it moved.
Karen: Already warned them.
Another message:
Harper: What about Cole?
Karen:
Refuses. Says rules don't apply.
Harper:
His connection still active overnight?
Karen:
Two lines in box. One standard. One separate.
Then came the message that changed everything.
Harper: Kill both during work hours. See who responds.
Karen:
Can do.