In a trial thick with jaw-dropping moments, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo provided one of the biggest shocks of all when he blurted out that a close friend had given him a whopping gift: $1 million.

Now it turns out there is a lot more to tell about that seven-figure present, including a tale of private family discord - and a Fumo agreement to pay some of the money back.

Businessman Stephen C. Marcus, who made his fortune as a pioneer in direct mail, gave Fumo the money in 2000, a year or so after the pair first met. In court this month, Fumo said he had been given the money to help pay for his divorce settlement.

According to court files, probate records, and interviews, Marcus came up with the money for Fumo by improperly dipping into his own daughter's trust fund.

There is no indication that Fumo knew where Marcus had gotten the money. For years, the daughter, Julie Marcus Paul, did not realize that her father had reached into her fund.

She learned of it only after her father died at age 73 in 2005. She demanded the money back, and arbitrators agreed the $1 million should not have been taken from her trust fund.

On New Year's Eve 2007, Fumo signed a court paper giving her an additional $300,000 once he sells his 27-room mansion in Spring Garden, records show.

Fumo did not respond to a request for comment. His attorney, Dennis J. Cogan, declined to comment. Marcus Paul did not respond to multiple attempts to reach her. Calls to her home were not returned.

The saga of the gift is part of a larger story about a friendship between two powerful men, one a profane public figure, the other quiet and low-profile.

Marcus once told a friend that he was drawn to Fumo's power "like a moth was to a flame." Fumo told jurors that the relationship was strictly emotional, not physical.

But, he said in court, "We loved each other."

Worth millions

All of this became grist for the trial because federal prosecutors allege that Marcus played a bit part in Fumo's alleged cover-up schemes. They say Marcus provided an additional $35,000 to help mask Fumo's illegal use of farm equipment that belonged to a nonprofit group Fumo controlled.

After four months of testimony, closing arguments in the former state senator's federal corruption case are to start tomorrow.

On the stand this month, Fumo said he believed that Marcus had been worth $100 million or more.

Marcus may have had tens of millions at one point, but according to probate records in Montgomery County Court, his estate was worth less than $4 million when he died. He lost millions from bad bets on the stock market, someone close to the family said.

At probate, Marcus' estate was divvied up among his two daughters, his former wife, and others.

One daughter is Nancy Marcus Newman. She is married to Jonathan Newman, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and the son of Sandra Schultz Newman, a former state Supreme Court justice.

Marcus Newman declined to comment, saying the matter was a family issue.

The younger daughter is Marcus Paul of Villanova, who is at the center of the controversy over the gift.