FDLE seeking suspects in Orlando-based church donation theft scheme for trial

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is asking the public for help finding two men who skipped out on trial for their alleged roles in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from hundreds of Florida churches.

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30-year-old Marius Dumitru and 37-year-old Marius “Viorel” Dumitru are both charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, grand theft, unlawful possession of personal identification, and money laundering.

They were arrested in 2021 along with four other suspects in FDLE’s Operation “Thou Shalt Not Steal” investigation.

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After their arrests, both men were released as they awaited trial but have since absconded from the court.

According to FDLE, both men were last known to be in the Orlando area before they fled.

Operation Thou Shalt Not Steal began in December of 2020 after police in Cape Coral identified 24 churches within Lee County and several others outside their jurisdiction that had fallen victim to the scheme.

From a base in Orlando, investigators say the suspects would travel to churches throughout Florida and the rest of the country, stealing donation checks directly from their mailboxes.

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Agents say the suspects would visit as many as 85 churches in a day and stole from many of them multiple times.

Investigators say the suspects, all Romanian citizens, used various aliases to deposit the checks into multiple bank accounts.

Once the checks were posted, the suspects used ATMs to withdraw the funds before the banks could notice the discrepancy.

In addition to using the stolen donations to buy cars, food, and clothing, investigators say the group also frequently sent “high-value” wire transfers to Romania.

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In all, FDLE agents say the group stole more than 1,500 checks from 636 churches, including 355 in Florida, and collected more than $740,000.

Four co-conspirators in the case- 48-year-old Catalin Trandafir, 43-year-old Simona Trandafir, 35-year-old Panait Dumitru, and 36-year-old Ionut Raducan- were all recently convicted.

Anyone with information on where to find Marius Dumitru or Marius “Viorel” Dumitru is asked to contact FDLE’s Fort Myers office at (239) 278-7170.

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