The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Terrance “Tony” Elliott, pastor of an unnamed Evangelical church, stands accused of 11 counts of wire fraud.
A Southern California church pastor was arrested for allegedly stealing over $230,000 through wire fraud schemes targeting friends.
Terrance Owens Elliott, 60, of Crestline, also known as “Tony Elliott,” was arrested Thursday and charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Elliot is a pastor at a San Bernardino church and a one-time political candidate for the San Bernardino City Council. He is accused of committing several con jobs targeting long-time friends and a nonprofit tied to another church, officials said.
According to the indictment, Elliott reportedly told victims he worked in the San Bernardino city government and was involved with the San Bernardino Police Department.
His first victim was a friend, identified only as “M.C.” in court documents. Elliot allegedly convinced the woman to put her inheritance money into a trust that he would manage and administer. He falsely claimed she would lose her Medicare and Social Security benefits if she received the inheritance directly, prosecutors said.
He prepared a trust agreement and appointed himself as a co-trustee. He reportedly opened a bank account in the trust’s name and gave the bank a false copy of the agreement stating only he had the sole power to make payments from the account.
He then wrote checks and made online transfers to a church, identified as “Church A.” He also used the funds to buy postal money orders to pay the church’s rent. The rest of the money was allegedly used for personal expenses including buying Nike sneakers, a piano, clothing, vehicle repairs, and an extended warranty for a motorcycle, court documents said.
Elliott is accused of obtaining access to M.C.’s account at a different bank where he made around $27,164 in unauthorized transfers of her monthly Social Security payments to the church.
“When the victim’s family asked Elliott about the trust account or asked for bank statements, he lulled them into compliance by getting upset and telling them that everything was under control,” court documents said.
When M.C. died, prosecutors said Elliott targeted a second victim, identified as “W.H.”, into paying around $8,615 for M.C.’s funeral. He falsely claimed he needed authorization from a judge before money from the trust account could be released.
Through this scheme, Elliott defrauded four victims, including M.C. and W.H., out of at least $150,263, officials said.
In a separate scheme from June 2021 to February 2023, Elliott advised W.H. on selling a home. After W.H. sold the home, Elliott suggested the victim’s corporation loan M.C.’s trust $65,000, falsely claiming this would help W.H. avoid paying capital gains tax from the sale.
He prepared a loan contract and told W.H. he would transfer $65,000 from the corporation to the trust account and the trust would repay the loan with 10% annual interest. He also allegedly convinced W.H. to provide several signed blank checks from the corporation’s account.
Instead of honoring the contract, Elliott used a blank check to make a transfer to Church A. He never repaid any part of the $65,000 loan and instead, reportedly spent most of the money on personal expenses, prosecutors said.
From September 2018 to June 2021, Elliott used his relationships with the church’s board of directors to help manage litigation expenses and other costs involving a different church, “Church B,” and a nonprofit.
Elliott reportedly lied by claiming the nonprofit owed money to W.H.’s corporation for services provided involving the litigation against them. The nonprofit issued around 32 checks which Elliott deposited into an account he controlled, defrauding around $23,300.
In total, he is accused of swindling around $238,563 through these schemes, prosecutors said. He was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each count.
The case remains under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Authorities believe there may be additional victims who have yet to be identified.
A California pastor with a long history of financial scams is back in legal trouble after allegedly defrauding friends of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Terrance “Tony” Elliott, 60, was arrested Thursday after being indicted on 11 counts of wire fraud.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the Crestline pastor targeted “long-time friends” and used his influence as a chaplain for the San Bernardino Police Department to convince them of his trustworthiness. In one alleged scheme, Elliott urged a friend to create a trust after he learned she was due to secure an inheritance, prosecutors say. Elliott told her “she would lose her Medicare and Social Security benefits if she directly received the inheritance,” the indictment reads.
Unbeknownst to her, Elliott allegedly opened the trust in his name only and began using it as his personal bank account. Over the course of several years, prosecutors say he spent more than $114,000 on things like truck repairs, Nike sneakers, a piano, and “an extended warranty for a motorcycle.” When the woman or her family members asked if they could see bank statements, Elliott “lulled them into compliance by getting upset and telling them that everything was under control,” prosecutors say.
Although the trust had money allocated for the woman’s funeral, when she died, prosecutors say Elliott “tricked” another victim into paying $8,600 in funeral expenses.
Investigators say Elliott stole $65,000 from another victim who trusted him with their financial information after Elliot allegedly said he knew of a way around the capital gains tax. Using his position as a pastor, Elliott also defrauded a nonprofit serving low-income seniors of $23,000 by having them issue dozens of checks to a bank account he controlled, the indictment reads. In total, federal prosecutors believe he tricked victims out of at least $238,000.
This is hardly Elliott’s first brush with the law. In 2022, while running for San Bernardino City Council, the San Bernardino Sun published an expose about his criminal record. According to the story, he was just 19 years old when he was charged with passing bad checks in 1983. He served a year of jail time, and was again arrested in 1994 for stealing from Good Samaritan Baptist Church in LA.
A decade later, parishioner Tina Satterwhite said she was close to losing her home when Elliott suggested she sell it and put the proceeds in a trust. Satterwhite said Elliott helped her set up the trust and stole $75,000 from it, leaving her destitute and homeless.
“He destroyed me,” Satterwhite told the Sun in 2022. “My spiritual belief in God has wavered. It’s been hell for a long time.”
Elliott lost his bid for city council. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not name the church where he is currently a pastor, though the Sun reported he once worked at the now-defunct Mt. Zion Baptist Church. A Facebook page for a church called the Ship has a photo of Elliott as its profile picture and says it “has been under the leadership of Dr. T. Elliott for over 20 years.” The Sun reported that although Elliott has claimed to have three doctorate degrees, it’s not clear that he actually does.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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