‘Operation Thou Shalt Not Steal’: FDLE Arrests 4 Accused Of Stealing Donations From Florida Churches
CBS Miami 3 days ago Syndicated Local – CBS Miami
FORT MYERS (CBSMiami) – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Wednesday arrested four people accused of stealing donations from Florida churches.
FDLE began “Operation Thou Shalt Not Steal” back in December of 2020 after Cape Coral PD notified the agency that 24 Lee County-based churches had been victimized.
Agents began looking for six suspects:
Ionut Raducan, 33
Panait Dumitru, 32
Simona Trandafir, 39 (Also known as Simona Nitoi)
According to investigators, the suspects, all Romanian citizens, would travel to churches, sometimes many as 85 per day, to steal donation checks from mailboxes. FDLE added they would even steal from the same churches multiple times.
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Four men were arrested as part of “Operation Thou Shalt Not Steal” Wednesday after allegedly thieving $740,000 worth of church donations, according to the police.
Four of the six suspects were taken into custody by agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The two remaining suspects are still on the loose, according to a press release from the police.
The suspects traveled throughout Florida and the U.S., stealing more than 1,500 donation checks from 636 church mailboxes. Agents say the men sometimes hit around 85 churches a day, and the total amount of money stolen was more than $740,000.
‘OPERATION THOU SHALT NOT STEAL’: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Wednesday arrested four people accused of taking donations from Florida churches. https://t.co/yyQHtotfFi
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