Man accused of stealing from employer

A 31-year-old man has been accused of diverting materials and sales from his employer's tile business in Four Corners to his own tile business in Bozeman.

The man, Justin Jonathan Bertelsen, was charged with two felonies: evidence tampering and theft of property valued over $5,000. He was free on bond as of Wednesday after being charged in February.

The charges are based on a sheriff's office investigation that began Jan. 29 when the owner of Montana Tile and Stone alleged one of his employees had been stealing from the business.

"The investigation revealed that Defendant [Bertelsen] ordered tile and related materials through Montana Tile and Stone's vendor accounts for customer projects but failed to process or complete corresponding invoices within the company's system, leaving the business responsible for the vendor charges while Defendant controlled the materials," reads an affidavit Deputy Gallatin County Attorney Keifer Johnson filed in Eighteenth District Court.

One of Bertelsen's coworkers allegedly reported seeing Bertelsen loading materials directly from delivery shipments into his personal vehicle rather than company delivery vehicles, which was reportedly inconsistent with normal company procedures. Certain orders associated with those materials were never marked as received, billed, or entered into inventory, according to Johnson's affidavit.

"Review of company documentation indicated that materials were ordered through Montana Tile and Stone, taken by the Defendant, delivered and installed for customers, and that the Defendant collected payment connected to those projects through his separate business Berte Custom Tile," Johnson wrote.

A customer of Montana Tile and Stone reported that Bertelsen was his point of contact for work performed and that payments were processed in Bertelsen's name rather than through Montana Tile and Stone's normal sales process, according to the affidavit.

"Additional record review by investigators and company staff showed that the Defendant conducted transactions outside company procedures, including applying unauthorized discounts to materials and sales associated with his own purchases or projects," Johnson wrote.

Problematic transactions by Bertelsen occurred between about May 2025 and December 2025 and resulted in losses to Montana Tile and Stone of about $7,655.25, according to the affidavit.

Bertelsen's evidence-tampering charge stems from allegations he concealed or tried to conceal evidence of wrongdoing.

"The investigation further determined that documentations associated with multiple transactions was altered, deleted, or never properly processed, thereby disrupting Montana Tile and Stone's ordinary accounting and inventory controls and impairing the ability of both the business and investigators ... to trace materials and sales through normal records," Johnson wrote. "The company identified invoices connected to the Robbins project that had been created and later deleted, with at least one located only through the Defendant's email rather than through the company's accounting system, despite materials having been ordered through company vendor accounts and billed to the business. Employees also determined that certain delivered materials were never marked as received in inventory and that related estimates were never converted into invoices, leaving no billing record even though the company had incurred supplier costs."

Materials were transferred from a delivery truck to Bertelsen's personal vehicle rather than logged into company inventory, and the order associated with these materials could not be located within the company's processed records, Johnson alleged.

Upon being confronted by the owner of Montana Tile and Stone, Bertelsen "did not deny involvement but instead asked how much he owed and how he could repay the business," the affidavit states.

Court records indicate Bertelsen has been a lifelong resident of Montana and has been in Bozeman for about a year.

Bertelsen had an initial court appearance on April 6. As of Wednesday, he had a jury trial scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 4.