The doors to the Forensics Division were shut tight. Everyone sat in a circle of chairs, waiting for Nygma, who stood at the front, to turn on the equipment.
"Come on, Ed. Show us what you found."
"OK!"
Nygma raised a hand, glanced over the people seated before him-Li Jie, Gordon, Wilson, Harleen, Otis, and Anna-then nodded and switched off the lights.
The projector's pale light flickered on, casting its beam onto the opposite wall.
"Thanks to the help of Miss Felicity Smoak, who works for Mr. Oliver Queen, we decrypted and copied the contents of every hard drive in record time. I'll now give you a brief demonstration."
The image flickered. Nygma opened the first folder, and rows of numbers and densely packed financial statements filled the screen.
"First, the usual money laundering. Given Sterling's profession, you can imagine this was an essential part of his operation.
"Over the past ten years, the Sterling Foundation handled more than forty-four billion dollars. The money came from legitimate donations, investment returns, and fundraising. It went into forty-seven offshore accounts spread across the Cayman Islands, Panama, and Switzerland."
He dragged the scroll bar down, and numbers cascaded across the screen. Every transfer had a complete record-amount, date, intermediary account, final recipient. Every transaction had a contract, an invoice, and a tax filing. In any court of law, these documents could prove that Sterling was a legitimate, successful financier who had made tremendous contributions to society.
"But look here." Nygma opened an unremarkable subfolder. "After leaving the Cayman account, this money didn't go into another investment. Instead, it became a consulting fee paid to a limited liability company registered in Delaware. This company's sole shareholder is..."
He tapped a few keys. "A deputy director of the Gotham Port Authority."
Gordon narrowed his eyes