JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is searching for two men accused of absconding after their 2021 arrests in connection to their role in a nationwide scheme of stealing from hundreds of churches, including 16 in Jacksonville.
FDLE arrested four suspects in 2021 accused of stealing donations from churches and religious schools. They traveled to churches around Florida and other states, stealing checks from church mailboxes, FDLE said.
Investigators centered on six suspects, all of whom are Romanian citizens that operated in the Orlando area, FDLE said. Marius "Viorel" Dumitru and 30-year-old Marius Dumitru were arrested but absconded before their trial. They are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, grand theft, unlawful possession of personal identification and money laundering, the agency said
Catalin Trandafir, 48, Simona Trandafir, 43, Panait Dumitru, 35, and Ionut Raducan, 36, have been convicted.
As many as 1,500 checks valued at more than $740,000 were stolen from as many as 636 churches, FDLE said. More than 350 occurred in Florida, with 16 in Jacksonville including the following:
- Baymeadows Baptist Church
- Center Academy of Jacksonville
- Christ United Methodist Church & Preschool
- Christian Family Chapel
- Dunn's Creek Baptist Church
- Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
- First Baptist Church of Atlantic Beach
- First Coast Christian Center
- First Conservative Baptist Church
- Grace Presbyterian Church
- Hodges Boulevard Presbyterian Church
- Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene
- Monument Point Fellowship Church
- Queen of Peace Catholic Church
- Spirit of Life Lutheran Church
- Wayman Chapel AME Church
Approximately $67,376.07 was stolen from those churches. The operation also included churches in North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and Illinois.
“Churches depend on donations from generous members of the community to operate and serve those in need," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in 2021. "It is despicable that this crime ring would exploit the selfless acts of kindness displayed through these donations for selfish greed. Thank you, to the law enforcement agencies that worked with my Office of Statewide Prosecution to bring these criminals to justice.”
The suspects used several aliases to deposit the stolen checks into bank accounts and then withdrew money from ATMs when the money was available before banks could recognize a problem, according to the FDLE.
With the money, the suspects bought food, clothes and vehicles, FDLE continued. They also sent high-value wire transfers back to Romania.
“This low-tech yet well-organized effort to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mailed-in charitable donations—at a time when donations may have been most needed—has been stopped," Former FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in 2021.
If you have any information, please contact FDLE Fort Myers at 239-278-7170.
