📰 Mirror Me Blog Series: Portmeirion Scandal — Part II Title: Accounting or Acting? Inside the Ponzi-Scheme Vibes of Portmeirion’s Finance Department
If you’ve ever watched Madea’s Witness Protection, you’ll understand the absurdity of watching a luxury tableware brand spiral into chaos behind the scenes. But what I experienced inside the accounting department at Portmeirion wasn’t a Tyler Perry comedy—it was a real-life circus of mismanagement, pressure tactics, and what looked eerily like financial manipulation hidden behind fancy spreadsheets.
Let me take you behind the curtain.
🎠When AP Stood for “All Pretend”
Let’s be clear: I wasn’t the only one who noticed the red flags.
Chris Sauro, the head accountant, mysteriously resigned right before the internal audit. And why? Because he knew the house of cards was about to collapse—and he didn’t want to be standing in the rubble when it did.
During my private conversation with Paula Hawks from HR, she confided in me that Chris’s exit interview was the hardest she ever conducted. He cried. Not because he didn’t love the company—but because he knew he was being forced to compromise his integrity by issuing duplicate payments, unauthorized disbursements, and backlog payments 90+ days overdue. The result? Disruptions in customs, suppliers, and customer shipments.
Chris knew what was coming. He ran. And I don’t blame him.
📉 William Rafferty: The Next to Go
Then came William Rafferty, another temp like me. Hired to help prepare for the audit. A smart guy. Sharp with numbers. But once he started digging, he realized the soil was toxic.
He didn’t last long either.
He dipped out before he could get entangled in the chaos. Just like me, he saw the truth—but unlike me, he stayed silent. I was the only one brave enough to speak up, not because I wanted drama, but because I refused to carry someone else’s karma.
đź’Ś The Email They Tried to Ignore
On February 4, 2025, I sent a direct and factual email to Dominique Duran, the Controller of the department. I CC’d HR, clearly outlining the toxicity, poor leadership, and serious health implications of their environment.
I wasn’t aggressive—I was honest. I gave them a chance to course-correct.
Instead, my plea for integrity was viewed as a threat.
🚪 When Integrity Is Punished
After my email, things changed. I was stripped of responsibilities. Slowly erased. Why? Because toxic systems silence truth-tellers. But I’m not going quietly.
As you read in Part I, this isn’t about revenge. This is about restoration. This is about creating space for other employees to say, “Wait, I saw this too.” It’s about ending the gaslighting culture of retaliation that protects leadership while scapegoating workers who refuse to play along.
đź’Ą The Real Question: Who Else Knew?
Why was Jennifer Luning, who had no AP experience, placed in leadership?
Why were six-figure errors brushed off like misplaced paperclips?
Why did so many good people leave, one by one, in silence?
Because in a system that rewards silence and punishes truth, it’s not about what’s right—it’s about who’s in control.
But control is an illusion.
The truth always finds a way to shine through.
And this is just the beginning.
🗞️ Coming Tomorrow:
Why Dominique’s email wasn’t just cold — it was corporate retaliation in plain sight. Let’s break it down together.
🪞Spot the Narc IRL
This isn’t just personal. It’s part of a bigger pattern.
The behaviors in this post are real-life examples of what we decode in the Spot the Narc movement — from gaslighting to covert retaliation.
Want to learn how to identify this in your own life, work, or relationships?