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Bishop Lamor Whitehead, the flashy Brooklyn pastor that was robbed at gunpoint over the summer, has been arrested on federal charges. According to CNN, prosecutors say the 45-year-old pastor was slammed for allegedly “defrauding a parishioner, trying to extort a businessman and lying to the FBI.”
Whitehead, who owns the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry in Brooklyn, is facing several charges including two counts of wire fraud, extortion and making false statements.
Here are Bishop Lamor Whitehead’s charges, according to the indictment
According to a federal indictment, Whitehead allegedly defrauded one of his parishioners out of $90,000 from her retirement savings. Officials say the infamous pastor promised the parishioner that he would invest the money and use a portion of the funds to help her purchase a home, but instead, Whitehead allegedly used the cash to purchase “luxury goods” and other personal items. He carried out the vicious scheme over the course of 14 months beginning around April 2020. Officials said he never returned the woman’s money despite her request.
The indictment notes that Whitehead extorted a businessman for $5,000, then attempted to convince the same businessman to lend him $500,000 and give him a stake in certain real estate transactions in return for favorable actions from the New York City government. Whitehead ultimately failed to obtain the excessive cash.
Additionally, officials also accused the controversial churchman of lying to FBI agents as they were executing a search warrant. Whitehead falsely claimed that he had one cellphone but authorities later discovered a second phone “which he regularly used to communicate — including to send a text message describing it as ‘my other phone.'”
“As we allege today, Whitehead carried out several duplicitous schemes in order to receive funds from his victims. Additionally, when speaking with authorities, Whitehead consciously chose to mislead and lie to them. If you are willing to attempt to obtain funds through false promises or threats, the FBI will ensure that you are made to face the consequences for your actions in our criminal justice system.”
“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.”
Whitehead appeared in court Dec. 19 and was released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond, according to reports.
