A Lee County man is wanted by authorities after being accused of stealing money from 24 different churches.
Marius Dumitru, 38, and other co-conspirators are accused of going to multiple churches and stealing checks from their mailboxes.
According to detectives, Dumitru deposited the checks through an ATM into his own account and withdrew the cash before the banks realized the notes were not made payable to him.
When detectives investigated, they found Dumitru was part of a criminal enterprise that was pulling off this same scam throughout the entire state.
He was arrested and taken to jail on charges of grand theft, fraud, money laundering and violation of the RICO Act.
He was given an ankle monitor until he went to trial for the charges, but he recently cut off his device and disappeared off the radar.
Dumitru is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150 pounds, and upon his arrest, he will be held without bond.
If you have information in this case, contact Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers at 800-780-TIPS (8477), on the P3 app or on its website . You can remain anonymous, and if your tip leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $3,000.
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