'Shark Week' Featured Researcher Stole $300K: Bradenton Police

BRADENTON, FL — A biology professor and researcher featured on the National Geographic channel’s “Shark Week” faces charges related to stealing more than $300,000 from a nonprofit organization, authorities said.

Christine Bedore, 44, was charged with felony scheming to defraud in excess of $50,000 and criminal use of personal identification in excess of $100,000, according to a Bradenton Police Department news release. Both are first-degree felonies.

Bedore, who works for Georgia Southern University, is the former treasurer of the American
Elasmobranch Society, a nonprofit dedicated to shark and stingray research. She started working with the national organization, which has a Bradenton mailing address, in 2018.

She turned herself in to Bradenton police Tuesday.

The investigation into Bedore began in November 2023 after the organization’s president discovered she was stealing from the nonprofit’s checking and savings accounts, police said.

Financial subpoenas show that for more than five years, she made numerous electronic transfers and transactions totaling at least $300,000, BPD said.

The money was used for personal expenses, including medical procedures, a vehicle, subscription services, utilities, pet insurance, travel, entertainment and more.

Financial documents also show unauthorized transactions for laboratory specimens and equipment used by Bedore.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Michael Carpenter at
michael.carpenter@bradentonpd.com.