Eight People Arrested for Allegedly Stealing $260,000 From Florida Churches: 'They Targeted the Churches'

Eight people have been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme involving more than $260,000 in donations to Florida churches, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office has announced.

The investigation began last December, when Harvest United Methodist Church in Lakewood Ranch contacted authorities about a suspicious decline in mail.

Members then questioned whether their donations were reaching the church. A multi-month inquiry identified at least 17 local churches that had reported fraudulent activity.

Florida Churches and the Missing Donations

Authorities allege the suspects stole cheques that congregants had mailed and deposited them into their own bank accounts.

The sheriff's office described mobile banking as a factor that enabled much of the alleged activity to go undetected.

'Many of the deposits were made through mobile banking, allowing the activity to go largely undetected,' the sheriff's office stated. 'The scheme took advantage of the routine nature of church donations.'

The agency described parishioners believing their contributions were reaching their churches, while individual missing cheques did not necessarily prompt immediate suspicion from the congregations.

'Parishioners believed their monthly contributions were reaching their intended churches, while the churches often had no immediate reason to suspect that individual checks were missing.'

Authorities have identified 66 victims in Manatee County, with confirmed losses of more than $72,000. Victims outside the county have confirmed losses of nearly $194,000, according to the sheriff's office.

The agency described the alleged scheme as affecting several congregations across Manatee County and elsewhere in Florida. Its Economic Crimes Unit arrested the eight people named in the announcement.

Eight Arrested Over Florida Churches Fraud Allegations

Those charged are Yucmercy Espinosa Obregon, Luis Miguel Sanchez Santos, Lisaida Castro Gonzalez, Ismery Ferrer Alonso, Luis Enrique Valdes Camejo, Dayanis Leon Hernandez, Duvier Hernandez Canizarez and Isidro Gonzalez Gomez.

According to the sheriff's office, the charges include organised scheme to defraud, grand theft and criminal use of personal identification. Authorities accuse the eight of involvement in the donation fraud.

Detectives also have arrest warrants for seven additional suspects accused of taking part in the alleged scheme. Authorities confirmed that at least one of those suspects is in Cuba.

The warrants concern suspects in addition to the eight people already arrested.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office worked with the US Postal Inspection Service, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and Pasco County Sheriff's Office on the investigation.

Detective Describes Florida Churches Investigation

Detective Rachael Fossaceca told Sarasota's WWSB News that the suspects had no ties to the congregations from which cheques were allegedly stolen. She described them as neither parishioners nor church employees.

'The suspects were not connected to the churches. They were not parishioners. They did not work for the church. They targeted the churches,' Fossaceca explained.

Fossaceca also described investigators encountering more affected churches as their work progressed. Her comments to WWSB News outlined the difficulty of piecing together the investigation as the number of victims increased.

'It was basically a giant jigsaw puzzle that was scattered everywhere. As we were finding out things, more churches were being victimised. The number of victims grew.' Officials are still working to identify additional victims of the alleged fraud.