What remained of Pearlman’s empire, mostly memorabilia and office furniture, was to be auctioned later that day. Gone too were Justin and JC and Kevin and all the other young singers he had made into stars. and investigators from the state of Florida, who had rocked Orlando months before by accusing him of being a con man. Pearlman was long gone now, vanished, one step ahead of the F.B.I. Lou Pearlman, the rotund impresario who created the Backstreet Boys and ‘NSync and guided the early recording careers of Justin Timberlake and scores of other young singers, had been an international celebrity, a popular, easygoing local businessman known as “Big Poppa.” In his heyday, 5 to 10 years ago, he was profiled on 60 Minutes II and 20/20 and produced a hit ABC/MTV series, Making the Band. The crowds began gathering outside Orlando’s Church Street Station complex early on a sweltering June morning, waiting in line to wander through the abandoned offices of the unlikely multi-millionaire who had transformed this central Florida city into a music-industry mecca.
