Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Feds Say Former Clovis Pastor Committed $2 Million Fraud
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 6 years ago on
August 30, 2019

Share

The Department of Justice indicted Sherman S. Smith, 73, formerly the executive pastor of Sonrise Church in Clovis, on seven counts of wire fraud totaling more than $2 million Thursday.
According to documents filed in federal court in Fresno, Smith allegedly induced investors, including church congregants, to give money to the church by representing that the money would be used to finance a real estate development project for the benefit of the church.
The project was to be built at Ashlan and Locan avenues.

Pastor Used Funds for Personal Expenses, Investments

Smith made appeals from the pulpit, via email, and in-person for monies to pay off the church’s mortgage and fund an income-generating development, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.
Smith collected cash, checks, and rolled-over retirement accounts to fund the church’s project, but he did not disclose to investors that he used the money for personal expenses, to operate a publishing business, and to invest in foreign ventures, federal authorities said.

Previous Fraud Conviction

The pastor has previously served time in prison for fraud. In 2004, a federal judge sentenced Smith to 37 months behind bars after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud.
From 1986 to 1993, he was pastor at Napa Valley Baptist Church and the author of Christian-themed financial self-help books,
The FBI investigated the current case against Smith, who now resides in Monterey. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura D. Withers is prosecuting the case.
The charges come with a potential sentence of 20 years in prison if Smith is convicted.
 

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

DON'T MISS

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

DON'T MISS

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

DON'T MISS

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

DON'T MISS

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

DON'T MISS

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

DON'T MISS

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

DON'T MISS

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

UP NEXT

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

UP NEXT

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

UP NEXT

Three Missing Fresno Teens Found Safe After Nine Days

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

UP NEXT

NFL Postpones Tush Push Decision but Passes Other Rule Changes, AP Source Says

UP NEXT

March Madness: It’s South Carolina vs. Texas and UCLA vs. UConn in Women’s Final Four

UP NEXT

Kings County Authorities Recover Stolen Tractor. Suspect Faces Prop 36 Penalty

UP NEXT

Major Layoffs Begin at Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food

UP NEXT

Watch: City Demolishes Historic Chinatown Building to Make Way for Housing

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

2 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

2 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

2 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

3 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

3 hours ago

UN Agency Closes Its Remaining Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle Under Israeli Blockade

3 hours ago

Hooters Goes Bust and Files for Bankruptcy Protection

3 hours ago

Can CEMEX Dig a 600-Foot Hole and Not Harm the River? Arambula Says No and Writes a Bill

4 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Destiny Christine Brown

5 hours ago

Three Missing Fresno Teens Found Safe After Nine Days

5 hours ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

After 31 years of dedicated service, a long-serving pilot is retiring from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and the department held a last...

28 minutes ago

After 31 years of service, Fresno County Sheriff’s Deputy IV and Pilot Michael Sill is retiring, having logged over 10,000 flight hours.
28 minutes ago

Fresno County Sheriff’s Pilot Takes His Last Flight as He Retires After 31 Years of Service

Khalid Ahmad holds a poster of his 17-year-old son, Waleed, who died in an Israeli prison, that reads in Arabic, "The hero prisoner Martyr, mercy and eternity for our righteous Martyrs," in the West Bank town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah Wednesday, March 26, 2025. (AP/Nasser Nasser)
59 minutes ago

A Palestinian From the West Bank Is First Detainee Under 18 to Die in Israeli Prison, Officials Say

1 hour ago

How Safe Is It to Walk to School? Fresno County Wants to Find Out

2 hours ago

Baseball Is Back! How to Listen to Your MLB Favorites and the Grizzlies

Vehicles at an Audi showroom in Miami, March 29, 2025. President Donald Trump has said that tariffs would encourage auto companies and their suppliers to move to the U.S. (Saul Martinez/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Settled on a Tariff Plan That Is Set to Take Effect Wednesday

Vehicles are passed through final inspection at the end of the assembly line at the General Motors facility in Spring Hill, Tenn., Oct. 7, 2024. Sales of cars picked up recently partly as buyers rushed to lock in deals before President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts go into effect. (Brett Carlsen/The New York Times)
2 hours ago

Auto Sales Surged in Anticipation of Trump’s Tariffs

3 hours ago

Raid Or Rumor? Reports Of Immigrations Sweeps Are Warping Life In CA’s Central Valley

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., takes questions on tariffs while meeting with reporters at a news conference, at the Capitol, in Washington, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
3 hours ago

House Speaker Johnson Fails to Squash a Proxy Voting Effort From New Moms in Congress

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend