Florida man charged in $74,000 theft from Saint Vincent College

A Florida man was jailed this week without bail on state police accusations that he used fraudulent checks to steal nearly $74,000 from Saint Vincent College, according to court papers.

Troopers said Alfredo N. Paiva Matos, 28, deposited the checks into a bank account belonging to NPM Alliance Corp., what police described as a fake business used to launder money. He is charged with theft, corrupt organizations, forgery and dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity.

Authorities were notified in May by officials at the Unity college of suspicious transactions. Three of the checks were cashed by NPM Alliance Corp. and nine others were rejected, according to court papers. All of them were written without authorization on an older style check that the college no longer uses.

Bank records for NPM Alliance Corp. showed that Paiva Matos, who lives near Miami, was the account holder, police said. Investigators compared his drivers license photo to surveillance images from a Florida bank.

In one of the videos, police said a man resembling Paiva Matos was seen in an Alfa Romeo Stelvio at an ATM. Bank records from NPM Alliance Corp. showed he had paid $600 monthly to lease a 2020 model of that car, according to court papers.

An arrest warrant was issued for him earlier this month. Paiva Matos was being held without bail. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records.