After months of headline-grabbing incidents, where he was both the accused and the victim, Whitehead is in the spotlight once again, this time after federal prosecutors accused him of fraud, extortion and making false statements to the FBI about business deals with members of his Brooklyn church.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said after Whitehead’s arrest. “His campaign of fraud and deceit stops now.”
In one instance, Whitehead convinced one of his parishioners to invest nearly $90,000 of her retirement savings with him. But instead of delivering her to the financial promised land, Whitehead spent the money on luxury goods and other personal items, authorities said. In another instance, Whitehead extorted a businessman for $5,000, then attempted to convince him to lend him $500,000 and give him a stake in a real estate transactions in return for favorable actions from the New York City government, which Whitehead knew he could not obtain.
Earlier this year, “Bishop” Whitehead was supposedly robbed at gunpoint on camera of 1 million in gaudy jewelry during a sermon.
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