Law & Order Special Victims Unit s21e15 Episode Script

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
This is pretty.
Yeah, it says here that goes up your - Oh.
- Mm-hmm.
It's a positive message, I guess, empowering women through wellness.
The message I'm getting - Spend money lots of it.
- Wow.
Why sex? Why not sex? At We-B-Well, we believe in wellness for the whole self.
Be well.
Be hot.
- Be happy.
- Luna, we love you! I love you too.
And women need to know it's okay to love our bodies Especially the parts they tell us not to talk about.
Come on, ladies.
Don't be shy.
Show me some love.
See you on stage.
Herbal or detox tea, Captain Benson? - Oh, I'm good to go.
- Okay.
Well, Luna's so sorry she couldn't welcome you in person.
- She can't wait to meet you.
- Ah.
Okay, that's the crescendo.
I love it.
- Captain Benson.
- Yes.
Olivia.
May I call you that? Luna Prasada, She-E-O of We-B-Well.
Let me just say, I am so impressed by you.
Well, thank you.
Thank you so much for having me.
Hi, I'm Melanie, the COO.
- We're so happy that - Thank you so much for coming.
You must be so busy since Me Too.
We are, but any time I can raise awareness, I'm just happy for the chance.
Us girls we run the world, and in our spare time, we try to fix it too.
Come on.
So when we're attacked, our brains don't process information in a linear way.
We revert to our lizard brain? Yes, because the frontal lobe shuts down, and our body reacts in a So when lawyers, or senators ask why we don't remember all the specifics, - it's because - It's because trauma is processed in a sensory way by sounds or smells, not who, what, and when.
Revisiting trauma isn't easy.
Survival takes strength.
Survival takes strength.
Wow.
You mind if I steal that? Let's give it up! Ladies? Thank you.
Her car comes in 20.
Enjoy your face time.
I see you.
I hear you.
I-I am with you.
Bobby, finally.
Sweetie, can you hold this for a minute? Question for you, Bobby.
Question is Saffron or the chive? Luna, this IPO, going public, it's not business as usual.
Sweetie, we just had a fantastic three days, okay? So enjoy the moment, huh? We have edibles, and we have drinkables, so let's just live a little.
- Yeah, - Uh-huh? I've been going through the books.
Bobby, you do numbers.
- I do ideas - Yeah.
Brilliant ideas, okay? Good for you, but you're CEO.
You'll be signing the statements.
I want you to know what's in them.
Okay.
First we drink, and then you can show me your little PowerPoint.
The audience really appreciated you.
Well, they were there for Luna.
So was Luna.
Why invite you on the panel if she's gonna cut you off every five seconds? She is high energy.
- I'll give her that.
- Don't tell me - you bought something.
- What? My sister's birthday is coming up.
Text from Luna's assistant.
She says it's urgent.
Whatever she's asking, just say no.
- See you guys later.
- All right.
- Hey.
- Hi, um Luna didn't want to bother you, but - Olivia? - Hey, Luna.
What's going on? What happened? I was raped.
Oh, God.
Why would he do this to me? I just wanna take a long, hot shower.
Well, we're almost done here.
She's gonna get you some antibiotics.
- Here's some water.
- Thank you.
Luna, you said that Bobby came up to your room? Yeah, he's our CFO.
I keep putting him off because he's always got bad news.
I call him "Bum Me Out Bobby.
" Okay, go on.
Well, I offered him a drink to relax him a bit.
I have to admit, I was ahead of him on that front.
That's okay.
We never got to the financials.
He took a shot of tequila.
He pushed me down on the bed.
I wanted to push him off But I just froze.
It was just like you said.
I I just wanted to survive.
And your relationship with him, has it changed recently? It's become more tense.
We were about to announce our IPO oh, my God.
I can't do this.
If this comes out, the whole thing is just gonna go poof.
I can't believe he did this to me.
I can't believe it.
Look, you can do your investigation, but I'm not gonna press charges.
That is your decision, but the good news is that if you change your mind, we we got the rape kit done.
I don't think you realize this, but my whole brand depends on women wanting to be me, and, uh, rape does not fit into that picture.
Bobby Frost, Stanford frat boy.
A decade in Silicon Valley before becoming the CFO of Luna's company, We-B-Well.
- Any criminal record? - College DUIs, a divorce with mutual DV allegations basically, nothing worse than your typical congressman.
Well, security cams show Frost entering Luna's suite at 8:30 p.
m.
and exiting 34 minutes later.
Did we get results from the rape kit and her exam? Yeah, tox screen showed high levels of alcohol, marijuana, and Adderall.
Which she also told me about.
Also the presence of trauma and semen, not inconsistent with assault.
Also not inconsistent with rough sex if he gets a good defense attorney.
- Thank you, Counselor.
- How cooperative is Luna? She said that we can start the investigation, but she's afraid of how it will affect her company's upcoming IPO.
Any outcry witnesses? Yes, her assistant, Sequoia, texted me right after it happened.
All right, take her statement, and let's see if we can catch this guy Frost off guard.
Yeah.
One thing led to another.
I mean, you've seen her.
It was really hard to say no.
So you and Luna did have sex? Yes consensual.
Oh, no, what is she saying? Is she accusing me of something? Just tell us what happened.
Right after we finished, Sequoia walked in and freaked out.
Oh, no.
That's what this is about.
No, Sequoia and Luna are involved, so Luna couldn't admit that she was cheating on her.
She's making this up.
Full confession Luna and I used to be involved.
- Who broke it off? - I did.
Sex was against our HR policy.
Smash cut to a few months later Luna is a proud pansexual.
She's got this hot, new 25-year-old assistant.
She promptly bumps her up to CLO.
- CLO? - Chief listening officer.
You ever hear of that? I walked in, and he was on top of her.
Okay, she saw me.
She screamed for help.
He ran out.
She said he assaulted her.
Bobby Frost told my captain that you and Luna are also lovers? Did he also tell you he's furious about it? He claims it's an HR issue, but it's his toxic ego.
He hates that I make her happy when he couldn't.
Okay.
Seriously, I-I don't see how that is relevant.
Luna, we need to know everything that happened everything that Bobby knows.
And you didn't mention to us, that Sequoia walked in.
I did not, mention Sequoia because I was trying to protect her.
The fact is he raped me.
And now he is accusing me of making this up? That's what rapists do.
His DNA is on the kit, so he admits what he can't deny, and denies what he can't admit.
Son of a bitch.
He thinks he'll get away with this because he knows I'm not gonna jeopardize my company.
And there's always reasons for women to stay silent.
But the good news is, the world is changing.
There's no stigma in coming forward.
It can be empowering heroic, even.
Survival takes strength.
Yes.
Bobby Frost.
In the middle of a meal here.
Yeah, we're gonna need you to come with us.
Whatever Luna said to you, it's a lie.
Well, then you have nothing to worry about.
Come talk.
Look There's something I didn't tell you before.
I found out she's been robbing the company blind, and I confronted her.
That's why she's crying rape.
We're still gonna need to talk.
Let's go.
You should know, she's not Luna Prasada from Darien.
She's Lori Wisznewski from Hackensack.
That's not a crime, Bobby.
It's a tell, but I hear you.
It didn't bother me at first either.
She's created her whole persona as a sales tool, and it worked.
Until my client started preparing the IPO prospectus.
Due diligence, huh? So what'd you find out? Well, at first, small things.
Travel and expenses were overly generous.
Spa visits categorized as research.
Then I dig deeper and, fast-forward She's embezzling on a major scale.
But you didn't report that to the DA or the SEC? Or us when we first talked to you? My client's only crime is putting his concern for his company over his concern for himself.
If word gets out, this torpedoes the IPO, thousands of jobs gone, but Luna is - forcing my hand.
- One last chance what happened when you walked into Luna's room? - I showed her my spreadsheets.
- Mm-hmm.
I told her she could reimburse the company, and we could paper it over.
And how did she respond to that? By seducing me.
She takes off her clothes.
She gets down on her knees.
And you went along with it.
We get the picture.
Go on.
She pulls me into that feng shui thing she calls a bed.
We're going at it, and, boom, her assistant, Sequoia, walks in.
Luna pushes me off of her and cries rape.
So you're the victim here? Thank you.
Yeah, me and the company too.
He raped me, and now he is just making stuff up, all right? It's pathological.
Maybe it's neurological.
Maybe his frontal lobe is shot.
I don't know.
Well, he claims that he has evidence.
Well, he can't, because there is none.
I mean, We-B-Well is my child.
It's my life.
I just don't even know where I end and it begins.
Luna, I hear you, but we are obligated, to investigate his charge.
Well, maybe that's a good thing, because I did not do this, and you will see that, and in the meantime, you will arrest him.
Well, not yet.
The DA thinks that if his defense is your claiming rape, to cover up embezzlement, then Then we have to hold off.
Come on, this is psychotic.
He's still working for me.
I mean, I gotta go.
- I gotta fire him.
- No, no, no, no, you can't have any contact with Bobby.
Listen to me, you can't do anything to strengthen his hand.
Bobby Frost gave you these? Yeah, he said, as chief tech officer, you could shed light on some of these IT expenses.
Like this one here, yeah, for $800,000.
That's your signature? I sign off on dozens of projects every month.
So that's a yes? Did you get any feedback about the work that was done? I don't recall receiving any complaints.
Yeah, you wouldn't have because the vendor doesn't exist.
It's a shell company, and when we try to track the money down, it disappears into a Caribbean LLC.
- I'm not laundering money.
- Then who submitted the bill? It was Luna Prasada.
Did she say what the work was for? - Not specifically, no.
- You didn't ask? You usually sign six-figure checks without knowing what they're for? She made it clear that wasn't my concern.
Look, she's starting a charitable foundation.
She mentioned needing to move money around for tax reasons.
- She swore it was all legal.
- And you just went along? She's the boss.
The tech officer before me? She fired him because she didn't like the color of his aura.
So Vinay said that she was diverting our tech budget to fund the foundation? My God.
There's no saying no to Luna.
But you're the chief operating officer.
It's your job to keep her in line, right? She's the majority shareholder of her own company.
The board is all of her rich girlfriends.
It's Luna's world.
None of us would be here without her.
Is it possible that she was using the foundation as a personal account? How do you mean? There are wire transfers to offshore LLCs.
There's payments to shell companies.
Eleven checks made out to cash, $9,000 each, deposited by a Tisa Chee.
Tisa, she worked in creative.
I didn't know these were for her, but Luna did ask me to approve these payments.
Did she tell you what they were for? Consulting fees.
We need to get in touch with Ms.
Chee.
I left We-B-Well a few months ago.
But you're still consulting there, right? No I mean, yes.
Which is it? We're following up on some fees you were paid 11 checks written out to cash for $9,000.
Multiple checks all just under the IRS reporting limit that's called structuring.
I signed an NDA.
I can't talk about Luna or the company.
Tisa, you're looking at serious charges here.
An NDA isn't going to protect you.
I didn't do anything wrong.
Then you need to tell us what those payments were really for.
To keep me quiet.
About what? About Luna stealing from the company? What? No.
She sexually assaulted me.
We were at a retreat on Lake George.
They don't usually invite my level, but Luna specifically asked for me.
When did the assault happen? The second night.
Luna invited me to her private cabin.
I thought it was gonna be all the creatives, but it turned out it was just me.
She offered me tequila.
You're probably thinking, "She's my boss.
I should have said no.
" We're not thinking that.
Um, then she wanted me to try out a new product a, um, Vi-Brildo? It's kind of a combination of a vibrator and a Yeah, we get it.
She wanted me to Use it on myself In front of her.
I didn't want to, so Uh, she said, "Okay, just try out our bondage tape.
" Once I was pleasure restrained, she forced me down and used the device on me And, um, inside me.
Tisa Chee, she was in product testing.
- New scents, toys - Vibrators.
Well, hopefully not in the office.
And how 'bout on a corporate retreat? You said new allegations have been raised.
- Can we get to them? - Yeah, Tisa Chee is claiming that you bondage taped her and then used the device on her against her will.
Wait, what? That's insane.
Now, but she did come on the corporate retreat to Lake George? It was a team building event.
I think her whole group came.
Okay, were you ever alone with her? It's possible.
What is she claiming exactly? That Luna invited Tisa back to her cabin, offered her tequila, and then when she wouldn't test the Vi-Brildo, is it? Bondage taped her to the bed and forced it on her.
Okay, this is ludicrous, because I never stepped foot in that cabin.
I stayed in the main lodge in a suite with Sequoia.
What is this, open season on my client? Anyone who wants to can make up a completely specious claim? We do have an apology email, that you wrote to Tisa.
This is your email account? I never wrote this.
And you didn't authorize these 11 payments? Or this NDA? I've never seen this.
Okay, that's not what your COO said.
Oh, Melanie? Well, that's impossible.
We need some time to go over these documents.
Yeah, you do.
Luna is not the easiest, but I believe in what we've built, and I can't say anything that's gonna damage the IPO.
No, we're way past that now.
You're looking at fraud, money laundering I was only doing my job.
Well, traditionally, not a great excuse for breaking the law.
Mr.
Gupta, if you're aware of any criminal acts by your CEO, now's the time to reveal them.
An offshore LLC? Well, I'd have to dig in a little.
I'm sure it was for tax reasons.
I spent five years in white collar crime, Ms.
Franks.
I see offshore LLCs, that's a red flag.
Yeah, most often for embezzlement, drug running, or money laundering, so which are you involved with? None of them.
I tried to tell Luna it would look bad.
She stopped listening to me.
We've known each other a long time.
Her star rising, the money, celebrity friends She let it go to her head.
My mother used to say, "You climb too fast, you end up gasping for air.
" You're arresting me? Are you serious? - For what? - Embezzlement.
Money laundering, sexual assault.
I didn't do any of these things.
Look, they're lying.
I don't know why they're lying, but they are lying, and you need to help me.
I'm sorry.
Call your lawyer and have her meet you at Central Booking.
Luna, Luna, over here! - I-I can't.
- Keep your head down.
Luna, did you do it? Are you guilty? - Betrayed all women, rapist! - Hold her back.
Hold her back.
Let us through.
Ms.
Prasada, how do you plead? Well, I didn't do any of this.
Not guilty, Your Honor.
People on bail? Remand.
The defendant has unlimited resources, access to a private jet She's not going anywhere.
She wants to fight these ridiculous charges.
This court takes sexual assault very seriously.
So does my client.
Bail is denied.
Ms.
Prasada is remanded pending trial.
- You'll be fine.
- No, you You can't, uh, do this to me.
- There has been a - It's okay.
There has been a horrible mistake.
Now, I haven't done any of these things, get No, no, no, get your hands off of me.
Get her out of my courtroom now.
Get your hands off of me! Get her out of my courtroom.
This is not Oh, no, this is not justice.
This is insanity! Let us through.
Let us through.
Come on.
When they turn, they turn.
Also known as "the harder they fall.
" Oh, the press and the public cannot get enough of her humiliation.
I've seen male serial predators get more respect than this.
Yeah, quite a dramatic crash from a week ago.
What I don't get why make a false rape accusation with so much to hide? It's like she was asking to get caught.
I'm not sure that that accusation is false.
I don't know, but, to be honest None of this makes sense to me.
Effective immediately, Luna Prasada has been removed as CEO of We-B-Well.
I will be taking over as acting CEO.
Our public can rest assured it is business as usual.
Bobby Frost, our CFO, has a few words.
In her attempt to avoid the charges, Luna made completely unfounded allegations against me.
Nevertheless, I will fight tooth and nail to save the company she started.
He didn't waste any time.
From Luna's lawyer, Miglani.
Luna wants to talk.
The other inmates held me down, and I heard somebody say, "Oh, yeah, she needs to know what it's like to be raped by another woman.
" Oh, Luna, I am I am so sorry.
The thing is, she was probably right.
I mean, I must be guilty 'cause there is no other explanation.
Your client wants to change her plea? Against my advice.
I-I can't go through the trial.
I just want this to be over.
Are you saying That you did, embezzle, from We-B-Well? That you did, assault, Tisa Chee? I'm saying that I can't remember.
At first I thought, "Oh, oh, they're setting me up.
" Someone's gotta be setting me up.
" I read your emails.
I read the documents.
It sounds like me.
It's got to be me.
Ms.
Prasada, if you're gonna change your plea to guilty, you have to admit your guilt.
So I've got to swear to crimes that I don't remember or I have no awareness of? Oh, my God.
Have I lost my mind? I gotta be crazy! I mean, that's the only thing that makes any sense! Oh, I mean, as a woman, you know, I always thought, "I've gotta be strong.
"I'm I can I can get on top of things.
I can take control of things, 'cause I'm a woman!" You know? I've always been about empowering women.
Women because we can overcome things.
We can overcome anything.
We can.
We're women, okay? We're women! I can't overcome this.
I feel like I've been betrayed by my mind.
I'm going insane.
I think I'm going insane! All right, she needs to see a doctor.
And a psychiatrist.
Come with me.
Okay, come with me.
Okay, okay.
Okay.
Honestly, my mind I don't wanna lose my mind! Oh, my God! What, is she trying for a psych defense? I think she's trying to figure out what the hell is going on here.
She spent her entire career empowering women, and now she just falls apart? Look, either she's got a split personality That's not likely.
Or her employees are framing her, and she's having a breakdown because she's being gaslighted.
Captain, how's Luna doing? Still under observation in the psych ward.
Did you find anything? Not a slam dunk, but your conspiracy theory there might be something there.
Sequoia confirmed that she and Luna spent every night in Lake George in a hotel suite, not the cabin.
Oh, that doesn't track with Tisa Chee's story.
Nope, so I checked Tisa and Luna's phone records.
No texts or calls between them that week, but I did find multiple late night calls between Tisa and Vinay Gupta, the chief tech officer, - going back six months.
- Late night.
Maybe they're having an affair.
He gets her to make a false charge.
Rollins, anything in Luna's emails? Maybe.
The account is the same that Luna uses at work.
The IP address matches, too, and they sound like her somewhat.
Okay, well, that's her sign off "Be well, be hot, be happy.
" But there are phrases with more aggressive, more male energy than in Luna's idiolect.
"Keep my powder dry.
" "Cut to the chase.
" - "Red ocean.
" - "Red ocean"? It's an MBA phrase one that's used quite a bit in Bobby Frost's group emails.
Here's one Bobby sent in November.
So Bobby ghosted her emails and set this whole thing up.
Is that enough to get the charges dropped? If only.
Look, all we have is an alternate theory.
One that Hadid is going to hate.
Late night phone calls, phrases in an email, three company executives and a staffer all conspiring to frame their CEO? It's insanely elaborate.
You mean elaborate enough to drive someone insane.
That's more likely than the scenario that Luna is crazy and guilty? Okay, Ms.
Hadid Guilty people, they mitigate, deny, they blame others, but they don't blame themselves.
They don't think that they're losing their mind.
Luna is not faking this.
She had a breakdown right in front of us.
Okay, I hear you, but we're not dropping the charges against Luna.
In fact, we're moving forward on the prosecution.
What? Prep all four accusers for a grand jury.
Why so they can nail down their stories? Get immunity? All due respect, Ms.
Hadid If they're going to lie, I want them on record.
Right now, they think they've gotten away with toppling Luna.
If this is some sort of conspiracy, we don't want them to know we're on to them.
Fair enough.
Start with the victim Tisa.
There's no way that she's the mastermind.
So I sit here, and you'll ask me questions? That's right.
You'll be under oath.
There'll be 23 grand jurors across from you.
And your testimony is vitally important.
You see, with white collar crimes, juries they tend to glaze over, but a rape You have the chance to put Luna away for years.
- Years? - She sexually assaulted you.
Okay, you ready? All right, Ms.
Chee, on the night of September 27th, Luna Prasada invited you over for the evening.
Yes, I thought it was gonna be a party, but it was just her and me.
And where did you meet her? In her cabin.
In her cabin are you sure? Yes.
Why? Hmm.
There's a minor discrepancy.
I don't I don't understand.
Tisa, it turns out that Luna never even checked into a cabin.
Now, is that something maybe you got wrong? - No.
- No? Um, okay, you know, we'll get back to that.
Uhm Now, you said that she invited you.
Was this from a cell? - Yes.
- That's strange Because we couldn't find any records of her calling you.
Wait, um, she texted me.
Oh, that makes sense.
The thing is, we also checked your phone.
And the only text or calls we found from that night were from Vinay Gupta.
You and Vinay talk a lot.
We were co-workers.
Do you call other coworkers at 2:00 a.
m.
? If you tell this story to the grand jury, you'll be looking at seven years for perjury.
You're at a crossroads here, Tisa.
Now, I think that you're a good person who maybe got talked into saying some things that you knew were wrong.
That that's right.
It wasn't my idea.
It was Vinay.
He said it wouldn't get to trial.
It was just Luna was crazy, and we needed to save the company.
So Tisa admitted, I never assaulted her? Well, why would she make that up? Because she was having an affair with Vinay.
He talked her into it.
He told her that they had to force you out.
- Why would he do that? - He's denying all of this.
He said that Tisa came to him, and he believed her.
- And do you believe him? - What is going on here? We think that Bobby, Vinay, and Melanie conspired to frame you for the embezzlement and assault.
So the emails I never wrote them? No, we believe that Bobby did.
We assume it was Vinay that broke into your accounts, but we can't prove that.
Okay, but my passwords would be very difficult to hack.
They're very complicated.
First pet, street you grew up on? Yes, but also my home phone number from when I was a kid.
It was unlisted.
Only a A few friends knew it.
- Pinky.
- Pinky? Melanie's name Her nickname from when we were kids.
We used to go to summer camp together.
Luna, you never mentioned that.
It never, ugh That was a lifetime ago.
I'm not Lori from Hackensack anymore.
I evolved.
Okay, but is it possible that you evolved, but Melanie didn't? Yes, Lori and I Luna and I were friends a long time ago.
That doesn't mean that I hacked her personal accounts.
You should be talking to Vinay.
Oh, we talked to him and his girlfriend, Tisa.
Tisa's his girlfriend? He's married.
Oh, maybe that's why she gave him up.
Yeah, she didn't wanna go down for a fake rape accusation you guys pressured her into.
I had nothing to do with that.
What exactly do you have on my client? She's part of a conspiracy with Vinay Gupta and Bobby Frost to frame Luna for embezzlement, and to rape her.
No, no That was never part of the plan.
When you help plan a rape, you're just as guilty as the rapist.
No, Bobby told me that never happened, that Luna was making it up.
Well, after he saw the rape kit results, he told us, that it was consensual sex.
God damn it.
Bobby He never got over her dumping him.
And you had nothing to do, with this assault? No, I swear.
It was all to protect the company.
We all knew that at some point, Luna was going to drive us over a cliff with an HR lawsuit, the FDA.
She has no boundaries.
It's all about her, all of the time.
Have Bobby and Vinay cooperated yet? So we get the cheese? The whole wheel.
He has to cut you a deal, but If it was up to me How could you do that to another woman? Lori? Luna? She spent her whole life doing that to other women.
Growing up, we didn't have a lot.
One Christmas, my father, got me a gold heart necklace.
I know I shouldn't do it, but I wore it to summer camp.
Then, one day, it disappeared.
I was wrecked.
I lied to my parents.
I told them I didn't like it anymore.
The next summer, who shows up wearing my necklace? Lori.
I asked her if it was mine.
She denied it, but then she said I could borrow it sometimes.
She spent her whole life doing this stealing what is mine, then acting gracious, letting me have just a little back.
It's a crazy kind of gaslighting.
So you gaslighted her right back.
We-B-Well was my idea.
I made the business plan.
Luna She's Gorgeous Charming, Radiant.
I just wanted her to tell me she was sorry.
You know, I just wanted her to give me my necklace back.
So We-B-Well was your idea.
Now whose idea was it to take the company away from Luna? Luna was the problem.
Removing her was the action.
Success is the result.
PAR it is a calm, blue ocean now - Bobby Frost, you're under arrest.
- Oh, come on.
For conspiracy, filing a false report, and rape.
- Hands behind your back.
- Hey, slow your roll.
Get your hands behind your back! - I'm calling my lawyer.
- Yeah? You can keep your powder dry.
You can call her on the way downtown.
Let's go.
So Bobby took a plea.
He'll do at least seven years, and Vinay does five.
Whew.
And my old friend Melanie? There was no case without her.
So she walks.
Was it just about the money? For the men, yes.
But for her I could've been a better friend.
I've been thinking about it.
When you arrested me.
I thought it was karma.
I burned a lot of bridges in my time.
Hell, I Burned my whole house down.
Well, you know what happens when your house burns down? You get a clear view of the sky.
You mind if I steal that?