Controversial Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead is back in the news. The New York Daily News states the “Bling Bishop” has been hit with a new fraud charge.
Prosecutors said he “fabricated the funds he had stored in his LLC and used fake bank records to apply for a sizeable business loan.”
Court documents state Whitehead told a bank his business, Anointing Management Services LLC, had an average of $2 million available under his control. During investigations, it was found the account actually held less than $10.
In 2018, Whitehead applied for a business loan for $250,000. The Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry owner submitted fake bank documents in his online loan application. The outlet states the bank denied the business loan several times, but Whitehead continued to use the false bank documents.
According to Madame Noire, in February 2019, the 45-year-old pastor “included the false statements in a loan application for a $1.3 million mortgage to fund purchasing his six-bedroom, seven-bath Paramus, N.J., mansion.”
The Manhattan Federal Court documents did not state whether the mortgage loan was approved.
Whitehead’s attorney, Dawn Florio, said he intends to fight these allegations – and others.
“Lamor Whitehead will be pleading not guilty when he is arraigned on the [superseding] indictment and denies those charges.”
This new charge is just another added to the list of accusations of fraud and extortion brought against Whitehead.
As Blavity previously reported, a federal indictment issued in December 2022 stated that Whitehead allegedly scammed a parishioner out of about $90,000 from his retirement savings.
View this post on Instagram
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Whitehead used the parishioner’s savings to buy luxury goods and fulfill other personal reasons. She was under the assumption that the money was an investment.
Prosecutors also claim the bishop extorted $5,000 from a businessman after he was unsuccessful in receiving a loan from the same person for $500,000 in exchange “for favorable actions from the New York City government.”
The Department of Justice confirmed these were favors “Whitehead knew he could not obtain.”
Whitehead was charged with two counts of wire fraud, one count of extortion and one count of making material false statements.
The gun-wielding robbers made it off with $400,000 worth of jewelry lifted from the pastor and his wife.
His flashy style didn’t sit right with social media as the particulars of the robbery played out. Some even accused the pastor of staging the heist for notoriety.
He later confirmed that the value of the stolen items was over $1 million, and he was offering a reward for anyone with information.
The pastor went live on his Instagram on Wednesday and discussed the new charges.
“For everybody that’s praying for me, thank you, man. And for everyone that wish my downfall, thank you — because the Bible says that, God says, ‘I’ll make your enemies your footstool,’” he said.
“You gotta be careful with touching a bishop; even if you feel like I’m not one, I am one. And if you become an enemy of God, right, that’s on you.”
The Daily Mail says Whitehead pleaded not guilty to four of the five counts he now faces and is out on a $500,000 bond.
