Millionaire entrepreneur Alan Fabian strode from the main house on his North Carolina beach property last August to deliver the bad news to a colleague vacationing in a guest cottage.
In a brief conversation, Fabian told employee Greg Barr that he was leaving for a few days to face an indictment for fraud in a Baltimore federal court. But he assured Barr that things would be OK.
"He was supremely confident and saying that it was basically a misunderstanding," said Barr, who worked for Fabian at a Maryland nonprofit.
And Barr believed him.
Such bravado was typical for Fabian, a smooth-talking businessman who built a leading government consulting firm, sold it for $1.8 million and then launched several other ventures from an office overlooking the Inner Harbor. Meanwhile, Fabian's lifestyle grew to include a Hunt Valley mansion on 3.5 acres, the North Carolina vacation properties, a 39-foot Silverton yacht and trips on private jets.
His success also gave him freedom to form the nonprofit. Fabian was sure he could make it a success, too, raising money to help those in need.
That fundraising prowess earned him top posts in Maryland Republican campaigns, where he served as finance committee chairman for Michael S. Steele's 2006 U.S. Senate bid. It also afforded him a ticket to one of President Bush's 2005 inaugural balls after Fabian donated $100,000 for the festivities.
But along the way, according to federal prosecutors, Fabian stole up to $40 million, in part through a complex computer lease-back scheme that entangled his own companies, those that he worked for and even his nonprofit, the Centre for Management and Technology, also known as CMAT.
Fabian pleaded guilty last month in Baltimore federal court to one count of mail fraud and one count of filing a false tax return. The plea was part of a deal made with the U.S. attorney's office. He had been charged with 26 counts. He will learn at his September sentencing whether decades in prison await him.
Those who knew Fabian were stunned by the indictment and his guilty plea, saying that isn't the man they know.
Interviews with two dozen people - colleagues, acquaintances, law enforcement officials and political organizers - show that Fabian had many sides. There was the driven businessman, the attentive father, the friendly neighbor.
But one trait stands out: Fabian, it seemed, could sell anyone on anything, including his credibility.
