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A Brooklyn pastor, Lamor Whitehead was arrested on Monday and is facing charges of fraud and extortion. According to several court documents, the charges include two counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to the FBI, and one count of extortion.
The pastor allegedly lied to the FBI, defrauded a parishioner, and also tried to extort a businessman.
If the 45-year-old pastor is convicted of his crimes, he could face a minimum prison time of about 20 years. Lamor Whitehead made headlines when he reportedly got robbed during a live-streamed service back in July.
Lamor Whitehead convinced a 56-year-old parishioner to invest a lump sum amount of $90,000 with him
Lamor Whitehead was recently arrested on December 19, 2022, on charges of fraud and extortion. The pastor, who originally belonged to Paramus, New Jersey, leads the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries church in Canarsie. In one of the charges, 45-year-old Lamor Whitehead allegedly convinced a 56-year-old parishioner to invest a lump sum amount of almost $90,000 of her retirement savings with him.
According to the indictment, the pastor assured the parishioner that he would help her buy a house and invest the rest of the money. Whitehead allegedly used the money to buy luxury goods to serve his own purposes. The court documents also mentioned that Lamor Whitehead never helped the parishioner buy a house.
Lamor Whitehead allegedly made attempts to convince a businessman to “offer him a stake in real estate transactions”, and lend him an amount of $500,000. In exchange, the Bishop offered the businessman “favorable actions by the New York City government.”
The US Attorney’s Office mentioned that the pastor knew that he could not obtain such “favorable actions” for the businessman. Later, he was accused of using “threats of force” to obtain $5,000 from the same businessman earlier this year.
When FBI agents obtained a search warrant, Whitehead told them that he possessed only one cell phone, whereas, he had two of them.
According to NBC News, Damian Williams, a US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said:
“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. His campaign of fraud and deceit stops now.”
FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll stated:
“As we allege today, Whitehead carried out several duplicitous schemes to receive funds from his victims.”
However, Dawn Florio, the pastor’s attorney has denied the allegations and said:
“Bishop Lamor Whitehead is not guilty of these charges. He will be vigorously defending these allegations. He feels that he is being targeted and being turned into a villain from a victim.”
Questions raised about the pastor’s extravagant lifestyle
Whitehead made headlines when he and his wife were reportedly robbed of around $1 million worth of jewelry during a live-streamed Sunday service. Addressing the incident, Lamor Whitehead posted a video on Instagram and said:
“When I see them come into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody to get out, everybody just gets out. I didn’t know if they wanted to shoot the church up or if they were just coming for a robbery.”
Two men, Juwan Anderson (23) and Say-Quan Pollack (24) were arrested in connection to the armed robbery. However, they have pleaded not guilty. During the incident, Lamor Whitehead was also questioned about how and why he was flaunting such an extravagant lifestyle.
His verified Instagram account details his excessive shows of wealth. During the robbery in July, his lifestyle was described as “flashy.” In response, as per CNN, Lamor Whitehead said:
“It’s not about me being flashy. 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, I can purchase what I want to purchase.”
In September, he made headlines again when police removed him from his church after he was found grabbing and pushing a woman in a video. During the incident, Lamor was preaching at his church when someone started yelling. The 45-year-old pastor paused to respond to the act. In the video, he is heard saying:
“You wanna come preach? Come on up here. I’m gonna make you famous.”
The Bishop was then seen grabbing the woman by her hair and neck and pushing her. Authorities have identified the woman as Tarsha Howard. She was also reportedly charged with trespassing and disrupting a religious service.
Police claimed that they did not arrest Lamor Whitehead, but the pastor disagreed and claimed that they put him in a holding cell. He said:
“You put me in prison and then let me out and say, ‘Oops, you made a mistake’? But you don’t get to arrest me for no reason. I’m going to protect my family”
The US Attorney’s Office mentioned that the charges based on which the pastor was arrested are merely accusations, and he is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
