worked out a deal whereby the two companies would get the contracts with the profits divided three ways. Some of the money went to the bureau's chief counsel, Charles F. Cramer. Forbes defrauded the government, increasing construction costs from $3,000 to $4,000 per bed. A tenth of the inflated construction billings was set aside for the conspirators, with Forbes receiving a third of the take. The graft then spread to land acquisition, with Forbes authorizing the purchase of a San Francisco tract worth less than $20,000 for $105,000. At least $25,000 of the resulting financial excess was divided between Forbes and Cramer. Intent on making more money, Forbes in November 1922 began selling valuable hospital supplies warehoused under his control at the Perryville Depot in Maryland. The government had stockpiled huge quantities of hospital supplies during the first World War, which Forbes unloaded for a fraction of their cost to the Boston firm of Thompson and Kelly, at a time when the Veterans' Bureau was buying supplies for the hospitals at a much higher price. The check on Forbes' authority at Perryville was Dr. Sawyer, Harding's physician and chairman of the Federal Hospitalization Board. Sawyer told Harding that Forbes was selling valuable hospital supplies to an insider contractor. At first Harding did not believe it, but Sawyer secured proof in January 1923. A shocked Harding, who alternated between rage and despondency over the corruption in his administration, summoned Forbes to the White House and demanded his resignation. Harding did not want an open scandal and allowed Forbes to flee to Europe, from where he resigned on February 15, 1923. In spite of Harding's efforts, gossip about Forbes' activities resulted in the Senate ordering an investigation two weeks later, and in mid-March, Cramer committed suicide. Mortimer was willing to tell all, as Forbes had been in an affair with his wife, which also broke up the Forbes' marriage. The construction executive was the star witness at the hearings in late 1923, after Harding's death. Forbes returned from Europe to testify, but convinced few, and in 1924, he and John W. Thompson, of Thompson–Black, were tried in Chicago for conspiracy to defraud the government. Both were convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Forbes began to serve his sentence in 1926; Thompson, who had a bad heart, died that year before commencing his. According to Trani and Wilson, "One of the