From March 2001 to June 2004, Kowitz said, Fabian forged invoices and wire-transfer receipts to trick a Georgia computer-leasing company, Solarcom Inc., and various funding sources into believing that he had purchased millions of dollars in computer equipment, saying they owed him for the materials.
(Solarcom has since been acquired by Presidio Inc., a Greenbelt technology company.
After financial backers forced Fabian's business into bankruptcy in 2004, he lied to the court about his transactions to cover his crime, Kowitz said. He also filed several false tax returns, misrepresenting his income and the amount of federal taxes he had paid throughout the year.
Fabian used some of the stolen money he received to launch the Centre for Management and Technology, a Baltimore nonprofit that offered technology consulting help and solutions to qualifying charities, the government said.
In 2007, the center, known as CMAT, donated $200,000 to West Baltimore's Union Baptist Church to help it open a neighborhood technology center.
"In this neighborhood, they can't afford to have DSL, to maintain a computer, worry about viruses," Fabian told The Sun at the time. "We do it all for you."
Union Baptist Church leaders could not be reached yesterday.
Fabian also used CMAT to funnel donations to his children's private schools, arrange for private jet travel and purchase property in North Carolina, Kowitz said.
The nonprofit opened lines of credit with banks including Wachovia and Provident and later defaulted on the loans.
Baltimore attorney Joel I. Sher represents the trustee in the bankruptcy case. He said he has filed 11 civil suits against Fabian, his wife and businesses that received stolen money.
"These were fraudulent payments, and they have to return them," Sher said. "Some of the things we saw in [court filings] were quite startling. I think it was a multiyear pervasive scheme. ... Basically, we accused him of running a Ponzi scheme, and I think the facts support it."
Financial institutions including Provident and Wells Fargo banks have also sued Fabian.
Fabian donated to many Republican candidates through the years, including former Lieutenant Governor Steele.
Steele could not be reached for comment yesterday, but campaign finance records appear to indicate that Steele returned the money.
Fabian reportedly resigned from Romney's campaign after he was indicted in August.
