Church members mailed donation checks believing the money would reach their congregations. Investigators say suspects instead deposited the stolen checks into accounts they controlled, often without changing the checks.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office announced eight arrests on November 6 in an investigation involving more than $260,000 in confirmed losses. Detectives also obtained arrest warrants for seven additional people.
The investigation covers alleged activity between September 2025 and May 2026. Detectives identified more than 20 suspects and at least 17 affected churches in Manatee County.
Detective Rachael Fossaceca told WWSB that the suspects were neither parishioners nor church employees. She said investigators found checks from Manatee County, Tampa and Michigan.
Missing Mail at Harvest Church Started the Investigation
An October 29 arrest-warrant affidavit dates the initial report to December 12, 2025, when a pastor at Harvest United Methodist Church described a significant decline in incoming mail. Parishioners had asked whether their monthly donations had arrived and discovered that checks were deposited into other people’s accounts.
The affidavit says some parishioners used automatic bill-pay services that printed and mailed checks to their churches. Detectives said the missing payments could escape notice because donors assumed the contributions had arrived, while churches might interpret a missed donation as a member being unable to give that month.
An $8,000 Harvest Church Check Entered a Remodeling Business Account
A separate affidavit against Luis Enrique Valdes Camejo traces an $8,000 Harvest Church donation to an account belonging to LVC Remodeling. The donor’s broker mailed the check on November 19, 2025, but the church said it never arrived even though the donor’s account showed it had been cashed.
Subpoenaed records showed the check was mobile-deposited into the business’s Suncoast Credit Union account on December 4, according to the affidavit. The records identified Valdes Camejo as the company’s owner and an authorized signer.
A bank fraud review quoted in the affidavit said the account had made only one remote deposit before the church checks began arriving. After the bank restricted the account, another authorized signer told a bank employee that the checks had come from contractors, the affidavit says.
Bank Records Traced Donations and Transfers Between Suspects
In the case against Yucmercy Espinosa Obregon, investigators examined a $657 check payable to North River Church. The affidavit says its reverse carried the signature “Yucmercy Espinosa” and a bank deposit stamp.
Subpoenaed bank records showed the check was deposited by mobile banking into her personal JPMorgan Chase account on November 24, 2025, according to the affidavit. Investigators also examined a second account at Fifth Third Bank and described transfers between the two accounts.
The affidavit against Luis Miguel Sanchez Santos describes a $700 North River Church check deposited by mobile banking into his Wells Fargo account on November 3, 2025. Investigators also identified numerous Zelle transfers between his account and Espinosa Obregon, according to the affidavit.
A $5,000 Church Donation Was Deposited at an ATM
The affidavit against Ismery Ferrer Alonso describes a $5,000 check payable to Faith Lutheran Church that was deposited through an ATM into his Chase account on January 14, 2026. It also traces a $978 North River Church check to an ATM deposit on December 27, 2025.
Fossaceca wrote that bank surveillance showed Ferrer Alonso depositing the $978 check at a Tampa ATM. She said she identified him by comparing the footage with his driver’s-license photograph.
Detectives Trace Hundreds of Stolen Checks
The sheriff’s office reported 66 victims and 107 stolen checks in Manatee County, with confirmed losses exceeding $72,000. Outside the county, investigators identified another 268 stolen checks involving nearly $194,000 in confirmed losses.
Seven additional local victims and seven checks, representing approximately $1,800, were still awaiting confirmation. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office is working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Hillsborough and Pasco county sheriff’s offices.
Eight Arrested, With Warrants for Seven More People
Along with Espinosa Obregon, Valdes Camejo, Sanchez Santos and Ferrer Alonso, the sheriff’s office identified Lisaida Castro Gonzalez as arrested. The other three are Dayanis Leon Hernandez, Duvier Hernandez Canizarez and Isidro Gonzalez Gomez.
The agency’s announcement lists charges including organized scheme to defraud, grand theft and criminal use of personal identification. Espinosa Obregon’s October 29 arrest warrant lists three counts: criminal use of personal identification information, money laundering and scheme to defraud involving less than $20,000.
Espinosa Obregon’s November 3 written plea enters a not-guilty plea to each charge and demands a jury trial. Sanchez Santos’s written plea, filed November 3, and Valdes Camejo’s written plea, filed November 4, also plead not guilty and request jury trials.
Of the additional people sought, some are believed to be in the Miami area and at least one has been confirmed to be in Cuba, the sheriff’s office said. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Check the Endorsement and Confirm the Church Received the Donation
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and American Bankers Association advise customers to review the backs of paid checks when those images are available through their bank. The endorsement should match the intended recipient, because stolen checks can be deposited without being altered.
Donors can also contact the church to confirm receipt and notify their bank promptly if a payment went elsewhere. Suspected mail theft can be reported at USPIS.gov/report or 1-877-876-2455; anyone who believes they were targeted in this investigation can contact the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at 941-747-3011.