Two criminal organizations have been charged in the theft of over half a million pounds of clothing donated to an international charity. A long-term investigation leads to a total of 16 arrests relating to theft of charitable goods worth nearly $200,000.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the arrests and 98 felony charges relating to the systematic theft of donated clothing from charity bins across Suffolk County. This investigation is the result of the partnership between the U.S. Secret Service, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department, and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office
The charges include grand larceny, burglary and conspiracy stemming from 70 incidents between November 2024 and September 2025. The investigation identified two separate criminal operations, one allegedly spearheaded by Alfredo Perez, 67, of Copiague, and the other allegedly spearheaded by Manuel Cabrera, 62, of Lindenhurst. Investigators seized a total of 14 vehicles that were used to carry out the alleged pattern of thefts and recovered an estimated 25,000 pounds of stolen clothing.
Tierney said, “Since November 2024, the charged defendants collectively stole over half a million pounds of donated clothing from donation bins meant for the poor and homeless. These charges demonstrate that you cannot steal donations meant for charity in Suffolk County and repurpose them for your own personal gain."
According to the investigation, Perez and Cabrera each separately conspired with runners, comprised of a total of seven charged defendants, to allegedly burglarize donation bins, on hundreds of occasions.
Resident Agent in Charge Steven Choma of the Secret Service’s Long Island Resident Office said, we “stand with our partner agencies in stamping out fraud schemes affecting the entire Long Island community.”
Perez’s runners Kevin Molina, Alexander Quinteros, Omar Rosasaravia, Luis Castillo Ramos, and two juvenile defendants each had specific routes and worked long hours overnight to allegedly engage in a pattern of thefts across Suffolk County targeting donation bins owned and operated by multiple victims including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Perez is the owner of multiple Ford Econoline vans that he and his co-conspirators allegedly drove around Suffolk County making stops at multiple donation bins. When they arrived, one of the crew-members would shove himself into the bin through the “donation port.” Once inside, bags containing clothing donations were passed to an accomplice waiting outside who would then load them into one of the waiting vans.