A pastor from a San Bernardino church and former political candidate for the San Bernardino City Council, Terrance Owens Elliott, has been arrested following an 11-count federal grand jury indictment. The charges involve wire fraud schemes that allegedly defrauded long-time friends and a nonprofit corporation linked to another church, resulting in losses exceeding $230,000.
Elliott, also known as "Tony Elliott," is accused of multiple fraudulent activities between October 2019 and February 2023. According to the indictment returned on February 26, Elliott misrepresented his affiliations with the San Bernardino city government and police department to deceive several friends out of approximately $150,263. He convinced one victim, identified as "M.C.," to place her inheritance into a trust he managed, under the pretense that she would lose Medicare and Social Security benefits if she received it directly.
The trust agreement appointed Elliott as co-trustee. However, he altered the agreement fraudulently to give himself sole control over payments from the trust's bank account. Funds were then used for unauthorized purposes such as paying rent for a church referred to as "Church A" and covering personal expenses like vehicle repairs and clothing.
Additionally, Elliott accessed M.C.'s bank account without authorization to transfer about $27,164 of her Social Security payments to Church A. Following M.C.'s death, Elliott deceived another victim "W.H." into covering funeral costs by falsely claiming judicial approval was needed to release funds from the trust.
In a separate scheme from June 2021 to February 2023, Elliott advised W.H. on property sales while misleading him about capital gains tax avoidance through loans from W.H.'s corporation to M.C.'s trust. Despite receiving signed blank checks from W.H., Elliott misused them for personal gain instead of honoring the loan agreement.
From September 2018 to June 2021, Elliott further exploited his connections with another church identified as "Church B" and its associated nonprofit by fabricating debts owed by them to W.H.’s corporation related to litigation services. He deposited issued checks into accounts he controlled but did not use these funds for their intended purpose.
Overall, these schemes resulted in alleged losses totaling approximately $238,563. An indictment remains an allegation until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
If convicted on all counts of wire fraud, Elliott could face up to 20 years in federal prison per count. The FBI continues its investigation amid concerns there may be additional unidentified victims connected with this case. Individuals with information are encouraged to contact the FBI at (310) 477-6565 or tips.fbi.gov.
Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin J. Weir is handling prosecution efforts for this case.