he started off buying a pair of skis from 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 one of the stores. >> this man was an early employ 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 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. i mean, 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. >> in february 1999, the local newspaper did a business feature on the new ski shop in town. steve heitman w