4 Florida men convicted, 2 wanted, after stealing $760,000 from churches across the state and country
Pictured left to right (Marius Dumitru, Viorel Dumitru)
FLORIDA - Four Florida men were arrested, and two others are being sought after they allegedly traveled throughout the Sunshine State and Florida stealing thousands of donation checks from church mailboxes, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.
The investigation started in December 2020 after the Cape Coral Police Department discovered that money had been stolen from 24 churches and several outside the area. It was discovered that the six suspects: Ionut Raducan, 33, Marius Dumitru, 27, Viorel Dumitru, 34, Panait Dumitru, 32, Catalin Trandafir, 45, and Simona Trandafir, 39, all of Orlando had stolen donation checks from church mailboxes.
Investigators said the men would hit as many as 85 churches a day, sometimes in Florida and other times in other states.
The men used multiple aliases to deposit the stolen checks into several bank accounts. They then used ATMs to withdraw the money as soon as the funds were posted and before the bank discovered the discrepancy.
All six suspects are Romanian citizens and sent a portion of the money through wire transfers to Romania, investigators said.
The FDLE said in total, the men stole more than $761,000 from more than 680 churches nationwide.
Catalin Trandafir, Simona Trandafir, Panait Dumitru, and Raducan were recently convicted, while Viorel Dumitru, and Marius Dumitrus absconded.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the two wanted men are asked to call the FDLE in Fort Myers at 239-278-7170.