According to federal prosecutors, a California pastor was arrested last week after allegedly defrauding his “long-time” friends and a nonprofit of more than $230,000 in a series of schemes.
Terrance Owens Elliott, 60, also known as “Tony Elliott,” is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Elliott, of Crestline in San Bernardino County, where he is the pastor of a church, was arrested March 6, according to prosecutors. In the indictment, the church was referred to as “Church A.”
Elliott’s indictment describes his involvement in the San Bernardino community, including his roles as chaplain, citizen volunteer for the San Bernardino Police Department, and member of the San Bernardino Public Safety and Human Relations Commission.
Prosecutors said he had previously run for San Bernardino City Council. Elliott’s legal problems with fraudulent checks and debts became public in 2022, while he was running for city council, according to the San Bernardino Sun.
Elliott’s attorney contact information was not immediately available on March 10.
Elliott, according to prosecutors, caused his friends and the nonprofit to be linked to another church where he served as interim pastor. to lose approximately $238,563 via “several con jobs.”
Inheritance money stolen
Elliott scammed several friends, all members of the same family, from October 2019 to February 2023, claiming to be acting as a San Bernardino city government official involved with police, according to prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, the scheme began when Elliott learned that his friend, “M.C.”, was about to inherit money.
According to the indictment, he advised her to put the inheritance money in a trust for her own benefit, citing the risk of losing Medicare and Social Security benefits if she received it directly.
Elliott then persuaded her to let him create and control the trust, which he claimed would allow the inheritance money to be used for her financial needs, according to prosecutors.
He started stealing from the trust after prosecutors claimed he “opened a bank account in the trust’s name listing only himself as a trustee.”
Prosecutors say Elliott used the trust funds to make payments to his San Bernardino church.
Prosecutors said he wrote checks and wired money to the church, as well as purchased postal money orders, to pay the rent.
Elliott also used trust funds to repair a Chevrolet truck, purchase Nike sneakers, clothing, a piano, and an extended warranty for a motorcycle, according to prosecutors.
In addition to stealing from M.C.’s trust, prosecutors allege that he stole approximately $27,164 in Social Security benefits she received monthly.
According to prosecutors, Elliott used her bank account to transfer the benefits to his church.
When her relatives questioned him about the trust and demanded bank statements, prosecutors claimed Elliott “lulled” her family “into compliance by getting upset and telling them that everything was under control.”
According to prosecutors, the trust allowed the funds to be used for M.C.’s funeral expenses after her death.
Elliott, however, duped one of her family members, identified as “W.H.,” into paying $8,615 to cover her funeral costs, according to prosecutors.
Elliott lied to W.H., telling him that a judge’s approval was required before the trust funds could be used for her funeral, according to prosecutors.
He stole approximately $150,263 from the woman and her family, according to prosecutors.
Friend scammed again
Elliott defrauded W.H. a second time, from June 2021 to February 2023, by giving him advice on selling a rented house, according to prosecutors.
He suggested to the man, who owned a corporation, that his corporation lend $65,000 to M.C.’s trust “to avoid incurring a capital gains tax liability from the sale of the house,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
Elliott then created a loan contract between W.H.’s corporation and M.C.’s trust, promising to transfer $65,000 from his corporation’s bank account to M.C.’s trust account, according to the filing.
He told W.H. that “M.C.’s trust would repay the loan with 10% annual interest,” according to the indictment.
Elliott then persuaded W.H. to provide him with signed blank checks from his corporation’s bank account, according to prosecutors.
Elliott then used a blank check to transfer funds to his church, according to prosecutors.
“Although Elliott ultimately transferred $49,000 to the trust, he never repaid any part of the $65,000 loan,” according to the prosecution. “Instead, he spent the bulk of the money on his own personal expenses.”
Nonprofit duped
Elliott defrauded a nonprofit of funds intended for legal expenses in a third scheme detailed by prosecutors, which took place between September 2018 and June 2021.
“Elliott used his preexisting relationships with Church B and its board of directors to gain a position to help manage litigation expenses and other expenses” involving the church and the nonprofit, prosecutors stated in the indictment.
According to the indictment, Elliott misled the nonprofit’s board of directors by falsely claiming that the nonprofit owed money to W.H.’s corporation for work related to a lawsuit filed against the church and nonprofit.
However, Elliott was aware that the W.H.’s corporation “had performed no work on behalf of either Church B or” the nonprofit, according to the indictment.
Elliott duped the nonprofit into writing 32 checks to W.H.’s corporation, then deposited the funds into the corporation’s bank account, which he controlled, according to prosecutors.
Elliott is accused of defrauding the nonprofit of $23,000.
If Elliott is convicted of wire fraud, he could face up to 20 years in prison on each count, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
