PITTSBURGH -- Members of the Grace Christian Ministries congregation are going to get back the $350,000 they invested in a criminal scheme hatched by their pastor, but they're losing their church to pay for it.

The pastor, W. Michael Altman, sold bogus certificates to 43 church members by promising a return of 16 percent semiannually. An Allegheny County district attorney claimed that Altman used the money to pay bills for credit cards and vacations. On June 5, Altman was sentenced to four to eight years in prison, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors expect the victims to receive all their money back, plus interest, after the church's 11,000-square-foot building and five acres of property is sold. The church property, valued at $950,000, might be sold to another congregation, the Second Baptist Church of Homestead, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Altman, 48, entered a no contest plea in April to more than 100 criminal charges, including 45 counts of theft by deception. His attorney, Sumner Parker, said the church's board members also are to blame since they let Altman write checks without a second signature, according to the AP.

In 1986, Altman was convicted of submitting a false statement on a loan application with a Birmingham, Ala., bank. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to repay the $50,000 loan. He served six months and was placed on probation for four years, according to the Post-Gazette.

Altman was hired in 1989 as pastor at First Christian Church of Homestead, now known as Grace Christian Ministries, the Post-Gazette reported.