A former pastor’s wife in Florida has been accused of using more than $180,000 of church funds for personal expenses. Nancy Mitchell Bertine, 74, has been charged with scheming to defraud to obtain property valuing over $50,000 and grand theft of over $100,000.
Bertine is accused of using a credit card and the Amazon business account of Gulf to Lake Baptist Church in Crystal River to make personal purchases over a four-year period.
Bertine, who was married to the church’s founding senior pastor, Lloyd Bertine, was on staff at the church as the worship pastor until 2024 when the couple divorced after Nancy Bertine allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair.
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Following the couple’s divorce and Bertine’s departure from the church, church financial personnel conducted an audit of Bertine’s charges over after noticing irregular charges tied to an Amazon account linked to Bertine’s work computer.
According to Spectrum News, after the church staff began conducting the audit, they began recalling times when Bertine would make “suspicious” purchases. However, Bertine allegedly used her status as a church leader and the pastor’s wife to dispel concerns, telling finance personnel, “Don’t worry about it; go ahead and pay for it.”
Bertine is accused of using church funds to purchase a variety of personal items, including dog food, cat food, personal hygiene products, cosmetics, clothing, lingerie, and hair dye.
Bertine reportedly admitted to investigators that she used church accounts to purchase personal items without fully thinking about the implications of what she was doing. She also said that she had often purchased items for the church with her personal accounts and had made some repayments to the church after using church accounts for personal expenses.
However, investigators have found more than $180,000 in charges unaccounted for. The investigation is ongoing.
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According to Miami Herald, Bertine showed remorse when being interviewed by investigators and expressed willingness to “pay back any money that she ‘might have accidentally used.’”
