By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

The former director of facilities at Canisius High School was charged Tuesday with mail fraud in connection with the theft of more than $500,000 from the private school beginning in 1996.

Donald Fuller, 49, of Hamburg, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Hon. H. Kenneth Schroeder to answer to mail-fraud charges stemming from the theft of funds.

According to assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen Wylegala, Fuller, an employee at Canisius since 1992, created a fictitious company, DJ Mechanical & Supply, in 1996. He then allegedly approved invoices from the company totaling more than $500,000. The invoices - some for work that was never performed, or handled by in-house maintenance staff - were paid with checks mailed to a post office box Fuller rented.

Fuller was terminated by Canisius in April 2009 for unrelated reasons, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the alleged fraud came to light shortly thereafter.

The investigation is ongoing under the direction of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Internal Revenue Service.

If convicted, Fuller faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.