"This invoice took my company from being profitable in our first year of business to over a $100,000 loss, and that's a tough pill to swallow when I funded the company myself," owner Vaughn Hardin told the court.
After being notified that he was about to be indicted, Fabian also accepted a $500,000 loan from a member of his church, Jim Little, telling him it would keep CMAT, which is in bankruptcy, afloat while he waited for municipal bond money to come through. He never paid that back, either.
"I think my guard was down because of the circumstances of our friendship," Little told the court.
As a young man, Fabian worked in accounting for Arthur Anderson, later starting his own successful company and selling it to a public business for $1.8 million. He took a vice president's position with the buyer, Virginia's Maximus Inc., but then things unraveled. He created shell companies and bilked businesses out of millions.
"The guy was brilliant. He is brilliant; he didn't need to cheat," said Tommy R. Albrecht, one of Fabian's fraternity brothers at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, said in a telephone interview. He remembers predicting back in college that Fabian would one day be a millionaire.
"I hope he learned his lesson," he said. "I really do."
timeline
2001-2004: Alan Fabian enters into agreements for computer equipment he never purchases. He grosses $32 million.
2003: Fabian uses stolen money to launch the Centre for Management and Technology.
August 2004: His shell company is forced into bankruptcy.
April 2005: Fabian defaults on lines of credit on behalf of CMAT.
Fall 2005: He learns he is under investigation.
Spring 2007: He is told he will be indicted.
June 2007: Fabian takes a $109,000 vacation with his family, sticking the travel company with the bill.
July 2007: Fabian borrows $500,000 and never repays it.
Aug. 8: He is indicted.
May 16: He pleads guilty.
Oct. 24: Fabian is sentenced to nine years in federal prison.
