steve heitman. and before you know it, was bankrolling a brand new business. a ski shop called nordic sports haus. >> i saw a million dollar plus check written to open a check. >> this was an early employee of nordic sports haus, the store steve started with dale's money. >> steve was the one running the stores. dale was basically the money man. i'm throwing as much money at this business as we need to make it work. >> according to employees, steve was happy to help dale throw his money away. >> while my truck was in the shop, steve handed me the keys to a $80,000 porsche said drive this for a couple of days. the perks were unbelievable. >> the perks and promise of opportunity drew a former colleague, as well, that quit his job and came to work at steve heitman's place, even though he had seen heitman lie to customers. >> nobody really trusted him. >> did you trust him? >> not really. >> if february, 1999, the local newspaper did a business feature on the new ski shop in town. steve heitman was inte