PITTSBURGH -- A Baptist minister is accused of scamming his grandmother out of her home by telling her to sign over the property so he could get money for repairs through a government program.

Tony Armstead, 38, of McDonald, Washington County, was taken into custody Thursday on theft charges and released on his own recognizance. Online court records do not list an attorney for him.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said Armstead told his grandmother he wanted to reopen a storefront that is part of the property in question in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

According to the criminal complaint, Armstead promised to transfer ownership of the property back to the woman, but sold it instead to another relative for $60,000 -- almost $40,000 more than its market value.

Armstead allegedly gave his grandmother $17,000 she thought was for the repairs and used some of the other money to pay off bills, the complaint said.

"You truly have a lot of misinformation," Armstead told WTAE Channel 4's news exchange partner, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He referred questions to his lawyer, whom he declined to identify.

The Web site of the Baptist Association of Southwestern Pennsylvania lists Armstead as pastor of Grace Tabernacle Community Church. Officials with the association could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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