1.   The painting was sold for a fabulous sum.

2.   It does not refer to the policy you buy and mail in the airport that provides your heirs with some fabulous sum if you die in a plane crash.

3.   With Salinas business associates no longer protected by a friendly government, Mexicans are learning that many were corrupt, pocketing fabulous sums from privatization and favoritism.

4.   Farmers used to the fabulous sums they receive from drug traffickers may not be satisfied by the palliative measures undertaken by a federal government that is far from wealthy.

5.   They can hardly be expected to turn down the fabulous sums of money offered by Chinese traffickers in tiger skins, bones and other organs used in traditional pharmacies.