A Southern California pastor with a history of financial scams is now facing 11 new federal charges for his latest alleged swindles.

Terrance Owens Elliott was arrested last week for allegedly swindling his friends and a nonprofit organization out of more than $230,000, according to the Central District of California’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Elliott, who also goes by “Tony,” serves as the pastor of The Ship of Zion Church in San Bernardino, California, according to multiple publications. The church’s Facebook account has been taken offline.

Elliott allegedly used several “con jobs” to scam money from his long-time friends and a nonprofit tied to a local church, prosecutors said. Previously a chaplain for the San Bernardino Police Department, Elliott supposedly used the influence of the role to convince the victims of his trustworthiness.

On Thursday, the 60-year-old pastor was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, after being indicted by a federal grand jury.

Elliott faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count if convicted, prosecutors said.

Elliott Swindled Inheritance Money

Elliott’s alleged schemes occurred between 2018 and 2023.

In one of the cons, the pastor defrauded a friend called “M.C.” out of more than $150,000, according to prosecutors.

Elliott reportedly told M.C. to put her inheritance in a trust for “her own benefit.” He then convinced her to let him establish and administer the trust, “claiming that she would lose her Medicare and Social Security benefits if she directly received the inheritance,” prosecutors said.

He drafted a trust agreement for her that said the account would be used for M.C.’s needs only.

Instead, Elliott allegedly opened the trust in his name only by giving the bank a fraudulent copy of the trust agreement. He then used her trust as his personal bank account, prosecutors reported.

Over the next few years, prosecutors said he used money from M.C.’s account for repairs for a Chevrolet truck, Nike sneakers, a piano, clothing, and an extended warranty for a motorcycle. He also transferred money to a San Bernardino church identified as “Church A” and paid for the church’s rent.

When M.C.’s family asked to see bank statements from her account, “he lulled them into compliance by getting upset and telling them that everything was under control,” prosecutors said.

Following M.C.’s death, he tricked another victim — identified as “W.H.”— into paying $8,600 for M.C.’s funeral expenses. Elliott falsely claimed that he needed authorization from a judge before money in the trust bank account could be released, according to prosecutors.

Elliott tricks through tax tips and checks

In another con, Elliott supposedly tricked W.H. again. Prosecutors said Elliott stole $65,000 from him by allegedly telling W.H. that Elliot knew a way around the capital gains tax.

Elliott again took W.H.’s money for himself and used it for Church A and personal expenses.

In a three-year-long scheme, Elliot tricked a nonprofit out of $23,000 by having them issue dozens of checks to a bank account he controlled, prosecutors said.

He said the money was going towards “services rendered” by a company owned by W.H. Instead, Elliott used the money for himself, according to prosecutors.

In total, prosecutors believe he tricked his victims out of at least $238,000.

“Based on evidence, investigators believe it is possible that Elliott has additional victims yet to be identified,” prosecutors said. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the FBI at tips.fbi.gov. 

Elliott’s long history of scams

Elliott has a long history of scams, according to an expose from the San Bernardino Sun. The article was published while Elliott was running for the city council in 2022, a race he eventually lost.

The San Bernardino Sun reported that Elliott was first charged with passing bad checks as a 19-year-old in 1983. Following this, he served one year of jail time.

Then in 1994, he was arrested for stealing from the Good Samaritan Baptist Church in Los Angeles, the publication said.

A decade later, Elliott duped a woman out of $75,000 while he worked at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in San Bernardino. The woman, Tina Satterwhite, served as a parishioner at the church.

She told the Sun that at that time, she was close to losing her home because of personal circumstances. When she asked Elliott for advice, he supposedly suggested she sell her house to avoid foreclosure.

He assured her that she could put the proceeds in a trust that Elliott would help her set up, the Sun reported. Instead, he allegedly stole $75,000 out of the account.

The loss of money caused her to be evicted and become homeless, Satterwhite said.

“He destroyed me,” Satterwhite told the Sun. “My spiritual belief in God has wavered. It’s been hell for a long time.”

Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.