Bishop bought luxury goods with churchgoer’s retirement savings, feds in New York say
The flamboyant bishop of a New York church was arrested on charges of fraud and extortion following two incidents involving someone who attended his church, according to prosecutors.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead is the pastor of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches, according to the church’s website.
Whitehead, 45, of Paramus, New Jersey, is accused of defrauding one of his churchgoers of her retirement savings, attempting “to extort and defraud a businessman, and lying to the FBI,” prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York said in a news release on Monday, Dec 19.
Whitehead did not have an attorney listed, court documents show. His church is no longer accepting calls and did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Monday, Dec. 19.
Prosecutors said Whitehead “sought money and other things of value from victims on the basis of either threats or false promises,” according to the indictment.
In one incident, he convinced a churchgoer to give him $90,000 of her retirement savings, saying he could help her obtain a house, prosecutors said. Instead, Whitehead used the woman’s money for luxury goods and clothing, the indictment said.
In another, Whitehead tried to convince a businessman to loan him $500,000 and stakes in some real estate transactions, prosecutors said. In exchange, Whitehead claimed he could “obtain favorable action by the New York City government” for the businessman and himself, enriching them both in the process, the indictment said. However, Whitehead was unable to obtain these actions, feds said.
Whitehead had previously used “threats of force” to get $5,000 from the same businessman, prosecutors said. The indictment did not say whether the businessman attended Whitehead’s church.
Whitehead is charged with wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion, and making false statements to law enforcement, court documents show. He was arrested and was scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Dec. 19, prosecutors said in the release.
According to the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches, Whitehead owns a mortgage firm and real estate firm.
Whitehead and his wife received media attention when they were robbed of more than $1 million in jewelry during a church livestream on July 24, McClatchy News reported previously. Following the robbery, Whitehead defended his lifestyle saying in an Instagram video, “It’s not about me being flashy,” he said, “it’s about me purchasing what I want to purchase. It’s my prerogative to purchase what I want to purchase, if I worked hard for it.”
