Five people accused of stealing checks from Metro Detroit churches
(CBS DETROIT) - Five people are facing multiple charges after being accused of stealing and depositing checks written for churches around Metro Detroit.
According to a criminal complaint, Delphine-Georgiana Epure, Leonard Mihaiu, Bobi-kevin Birzan, Florin Birzan and Marian Cretu are charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and possession of stolen mail.
In July, Cretu used a long tool with a sticky substance on the end was used by Cretu to remove mail from the mailbox of a church in Plymouth Township, according to the complaint. Surveillance video showed Cretu getting out of a vehicle and walking to the mailbox with the tool, and Bobi-Kevin Birzan driving the vehicle.
"A review of church records confirmed that at least two checks mailed to the church from an FDIC-insured financial institution were mailed to the church but never received," the complaint said.
Video, according to the complaint, showed that Bobi-Kevin Birzan and Cretu returned to the mailbox at least 10 times throughout July and August.
The two checks were deposited into a bank account opened by someone with a foreign passport and driver's license and using a Houston, Texas address. According to the court document, authorities found 13 other accounts with the same Houston address.
Authorities say checks written to at least 38 churches in Metro Detroit were stolen and deposited into accounts with the address. The complaint says ATM surveillance video shows Epure and Mihaiu making the deposits on multiple dates in Houston.
In August, Bobi-Kevin Birzan and Cretu deposited a check at a financial institution in Farmington Hills. The check had been stolen from a funeral home in the Eastern District of Michigan, the complaint says.
On Sept. 20, authorities put a gift card inside an envelope and placed the envelope in the mailbox of the church in Plymouth Township. Surveillance video, according to the complaint, shows Epure leaning out of a vehicle and using a tool to steal the envelope. Epure and Mihaiu allegedly cashed the gift card.
On Sept. 27, authorities saw Florin Birzan driving the same vehicle near the mailboxes of 16 churches in Oakland and Livingston Counties, the complaint says.
The same day, authorities saw Epure and Mihaiu return to the mailbox at the church in Plymouth Township and attempt to steal checks. The two were arrested, and 11 checks written to numerous churches were found in their vehicle, the complaint says.
The complaint says the checks totaled $21,546.18. Authorities also found over $3,000 in cash, five debit cards and two money orders worth $170 and six wire transfer receipts.