Bishop Lamor Whitehead (Who was Robbed While Preaching) Charged with Wire Fraud and Lying to FBI | VIDEO Bishop Lamor Whitehead cried as he recalled his ordeal, in Brooklyn on Friday, July 29, 2022. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
*Bishop Lamor Whitehead has been accused of using fake bank records to secure a mortgage for his million-dollar mansion in Paramus, NJ
According to multiple reports, the flashy bishop falsified financial documents to secure business loans, per an indictment filed in Manhattan Federal court.
The pastor of Leaders of Tomorrow allegedly told the bank that his company, Anointing Management Services LLC, had $2 million saved up but actually only had $10, the Feds claim, MadameNoire reports. Whitehead was denied the loan several times, but he continued to submit fraudulent financial documents until February 2019, “including in an application for a $1.3 million mortgage to fund the purchase of his six-bedroom, seven-bath Paramus, N.J., mansion,” according to the report.
The preacher has pled not guilty to four of the five fraud-related charges leveled against him. “We are going to be fighting those allegations,” Whitehead’s lawyer, Dawn Florio, said. “Lamor Whitehead will be pleading not guilty when he is arraigned on the … indictment and denies those charges.” These latest charges come after Whitehead, who was robbed while preaching at his church this past summer, was arrested in December on federal charges for allegedly defrauding a parishioner, trying to extort a businessman, and lying to the FBI, according to a federal indictment. We reported previously, citing CNN, that Whitehead allegedly defrauded one of his parishioners out of about $90,000 from her retirement savings over the course of at least 14 months beginning around April 2020, according to the indictment.
The document said Whitehead told the parishioner he would use her money to help her buy a home and invest the rest of the money but instead used it “to purchase thousands of dollars of luxury goods and clothing” and “for his own purposes.” He faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted.
Bishop Who Got Robbed On Camera Has An Ongoing Lawsuit For Allegedly Defrauding A 56-Y-O Churchgoer
The flashy, jewelry-flaunting Brooklyn pastor who reported being robbed while preaching at his church this past summer was arrested on federal charges Monday for allegedly defrauding a parishioner, trying to extort a businessman and lying to the FBI, according to a federal indictment.
Lamor Whitehead, the 45-year-old pastor who goes by “Bishop,” was charged with wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and making a material false statement, the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York announced. He faces up to 65 years in prison for his alleged crimes.
As the pastor of Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry, Whitehead allegedly defrauded one of his parishioners out of about $90,000 from her retirement savings over the course of at least 14 months beginning around April 2020, according to the indictment. The document said Whitehead told the parishioner he would use her money to help her buy a home and invest the rest of the money, but instead used it “to purchase thousands of dollars of luxury goods and clothing” and “for his own purposes.”
Whitehead never helped her buy a home, the court document says, and never returned her money despite her request.
This spring, Whitehead allegedly attempted to convince a businessman to loan him about $500,000 and grant him a stake in real estate transactions in exchange for obtaining “favorable actions by the New York City government” that would make them “millions” — something the pastor knew he could not obtain, the indictment says. Earlier this year, he also allegedly used “threats of force” against that same businessman to extort $5,000 from him.
Further, Whitehead allegedly told FBI agents who were executing a search warrant that he had only one phone. But the indictment states he had a second phone that he used — including to text a message in which he described it as “my other phone,” the indictment states.
Whitehead is expected in federal court on Monday.
“As we allege today, Lamor Whitehead abused the trust placed in him by a parishioner, bullied a businessman for $5,000, then tried to defraud him of far more than that, and lied to federal agents,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “His campaign of fraud and deceit stops now.”
Whitehead’s attorney, Dawn Florio, denied the accusations against Whitehead.
“Bishop Lamor Whitehead is not guilty of these charges,” Florio told CNN. “We are vigorously defending these accusations and we feel he is being targeted and being turned into a villain from a victim.”
A controversial pastor with extravagant tastes
Back in July, Whitehead said he was the victim of a robbery in which at least one masked and armed man entered Whitehead’s church and took jewelry from him and his wife, according to a separate federal indictment. Part of the incident was captured on a livestream video from inside the church that showed Whitehead put his hands up and complied with the gunmen’s demands.
He reported that the stolen jewelry was worth more than $1 million, raising questions as to how and why the pastor obtained and flaunted such displays of wealth.
In September, two men were indicted on federal charges for their alleged roles in the armed robbery, while a third defendant remains at large, according to the Department of Justice. Juwan Anderson, 23, and Say-Quan Pollack, 24, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a trial date is set for July, according to federal court records.
Whitehead’s verified Instagram account details his extravagant shows of wealth, including Louis Vuitton-emblazoned suits, large jewelry and brightly colored sports cars. In a video posted shortly after the robbery, he pushed back against the media headlines referring to him as “flashy.”
“It’s not about me being flashy. It’s about me purchasing what I want to purchase,” he said. “It’s my prerogative to purchase what I want to purchase. If I worked hard for it, I can purchase what I want to purchase.”
According to his bio on the Leaders of Tomorrow website, Whitehead attended the New York Theological Seminary and completed his studies with a certificate in Ministry in Human Services from the Theological Institution of Rising Hope Inc. It touts him as a licensed New York state chaplain and a certified marriage and funeral officiant. In 2013, he founded Leaders of Tomorrow Ministry in Brooklyn, his bio states.
Bishop Robbed During Worship Service Says Pastors Should Get Gun Permits | Video Lamor Miller-Whitehead, the New York Bishop who was recently robbed on camera of about a million dollars worth of jewelry while giving a sermon, has an ongoing lawsuit for allegedly defrauding a 56-year-old churchgoer of her life savings back in 2020.
Based on the lawsuit that was filed last year, Anderson is alleging that in November of 2020, the Bishop convinced her to invest her life savings of $90,000 into his firm, ‘Lamor Whitehead Inc.’. She noted that in return, he promised that while working on her home buying process, she will receive a monthly allowance of $100 for living expenses from him, but only received one payment.
“Mr. Whitehead fraudulently induced Ms. Anderson to liquidate her entire life savings to pay him the ‘investment’ of $90,000.00, promising to use the funds to purchase and renovate a house for her,” the lawsuit stated.
Furthermore, it is alleged that the Bishop accidentally forwarded an email to Anderson’s son with an attachment of a purchase contract for a $4.4 million mansion in New Jersey. It is alleged that he used her $90,000 as a down payment to acquire a home for himself.
Anderson is now suing for an amount of $1 million in damages from Miller-Whitehead.
The Bishop has since made a comment to the Dailey News stating that the story is fabricated and that the lawsuit was filed just because of his “celebrity status”.
The woman, Pauline Anderson was reportedly recovering from a life-threatening surgery when she was introduced to the Bishop and later became a congregant at his church, ‘Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry’ in January 2020. A few months after in July 2020, she asked Miller-Whitehead to assist her to improve her credit score so that she will be able to acquire a home to which he agreed.
Brooklyn Pastor Speaks Out After Thieves Rob Him and Wife JEWELRY During Church Service | Video
Lamor Whitehead and his wife
As previously reported, a flashy Brooklyn pastor and his wife were robbed at gunpoint during church service on Sunday, and the incident was caught on camera.
Lamor Whitehead, known for wearing extravagant jewelry and expensive clothes, says pastors should be allowed to arm themselves, SandraRose reports.
“When I see them come into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody to get out, everybody just get out,” Whitehead recalled in an Instagram video posted after the robbery. “I didn’t know if they wanted to shoot the church up or if they were just coming for a robbery.”
Whitehead and his wife were robbed along with his wife of more than $1 million while he was preaching at the Leaders of Tomorrow church on Sunday, CNNreports. Three armed thieves entered the church and removed the jewelry the pastor and his wife were wearing.
In video of the robbery, Whitehead is heard saying “All right, all right, all right,” as the thieves enter the building. The pastor then raises his hands before laying on the floor.
After the robbery, the thieves reportedly fled the scene in a white Mercedes-Benz. The investigation is “ongoing,” according to police.“That — ‘all right, all right, all right’ — is pretty much stating that I don’t want, I’m not going to do anything, right, ’cause I know y’all coming for me, y’all coming straight to me. I don’t want my parishioners hurt,” Whitehead said of his reaction to the robbers in an interview with WCBS.
“I got women and children there. As I got down, one went to my wife and took all her jewelry, and had the gun in front of my 8-month-old baby’s face,” he continued.
“Took off my bishop’s ring, my wedding band and took off my bishop chain, and then I had chains underneath my robe, and he start tapping my neck to see if (there was) anything else — so that means they knew, they watched and they knew that I have other jewelry,” he said.
“My church is traumatized,” Whitehead added.
Meanwhile, as reported by The Shade Room, things got heated on Instagram Live when Bishop Whitehead popped off on Larry Reid and Pastor Geneses Warren for allegedly mocking the unfortunate incident t his church — watch their heated conversation via the clip below.
A flashy Brooklyn pastor and his wife were robbed at gunpoint during church service on Sunday, and the incident was caught on camera.
Lamor Whitehead, known for wearing extravagant jewelry and expensive clothes, was robbed along with his wife of more than $1 million while he was preaching at the Leaders of Tomorrow church on Sunday, CNN reports. Three armed thieves entered the church and removed the jewelry the pastor and his wife were wearing.
“How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” Whitehead asked his congregation right before spotting the armed intruders.
Watch the moment via the YouTube clip below.
“All right, all right, all right,” Whitehead says in the video as the thieves enter the building. The pastor is seen raising his hands before laying on the floor.
After the robbery, the thieves reportedly fled the scene in a white Mercedes-Benz. The investigation is “ongoing,” according to police.“That — ‘all right, all right, all right’ — is pretty much stating that I don’t want, I’m not going to do anything, right, ’cause I know y’all coming for me, y’all coming straight to me. I don’t want my parishioners hurt,” Whitehead said of his reaction to the robbers in an interview with WCBS.
“I got women and children there. As I got down, one went to my wife and took all her jewelry, and had the gun in front of my 8-month-old baby’s face,” he continued.
“Took off my bishop’s ring, my wedding band and took off my bishop chain, and then I had chains underneath my robe, and he start tapping my neck to see if (there was) anything else — so that means they knew, they watched and they knew that I have other jewelry,” he said.
“My church is traumatized,” Whitehead added.
Hear more from him about the harrowing ordeal via the YouTube clip below.
Well, staged or not, the charges the FEDS got against this idiot ain't staged. I knew he was gonna get caught doing something stupid, it was only a matter of time. And I don't feel sorry for him.
For those who felt the guy that just sat there was a part of it, he did exactly what he should have done against more than one person that had a gun. It wouldn't have made since for him to try to play hero so his family could be looking at him in a casket the next week. When you have the opportunity, then you act. GTFOH!
this is staged look at the guy sitting there with the bible in his hands he didn't flinch or move this so called bishop is going to pay for all the lies he's telling KARMA IS COMING FOR YOUR AZZ YOU FAKE DEVIL (PASTOR , BISHOP)
He Told The Congregation To Get Down Because He Know They Was Coming And Who They Were It Was Staged But He Forgot One Thing When A Person Come They Not Going To Just Rob The Pastor And Wife Of Jewelry Other People Have Values In There To So Why Not Rob Them To Because If I'm Going To Rob Someone I'm Going To Rob Them All -That Bishop Is The Devil In Disguise The Bible Say Be Careful Of Wolves In Sheep Clothing And The Bishop Is A Wolf.and i seen His Video Why He's Tell People Contact Him If Anyone Have Information Why Not Contact The Police I Have My Opinion On Things But Only God Can Judge Him And He's Going To Be Judged .Every Church Isn't For Everyone Seek And You Shall Find Just Because Someone Play A Role Of Pastor, Bishop Etc Don't Mean He/She Doing God's Work..
Should not have been flashing all that Jewelry. I wouldn't be surprised he paid to get robbed to get the insurance money.its hard to sell all that stolen jewelry. He robbed his parishioners, it's pay back. What would pastor's do with a gun? Shoot and miss and kill one of their parishioners. In a crowded church a pastor is going to pull out a gun and shoot a robber, these gun loving idiots are not very smart.
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