Controversial Brooklyn bishop Lamor Whitehead has been hit with another fraud charge just months after his arrest for fraud and extortion, New York Daily News reports.
As revealed by federal prosecutors on Wednesday, Whitehead reportedly told a bank that his business had $2 million in storage when in reality he had less than $10 in there. The bishop, who is noted for his flashy style including expensive jewelry and suits, applied for a $250,000 business loan for his Anointing Management Services LLC company in June 2018. When he applied for the loan, he submitted fake financial information including falsified bank documents. Despite the use of fake information, he did not receive the loan.
Per the indictment, allegedly continued to use the fake documents all the way up until February 2019, when he applied for a $1.3 million mortgage for a six-bedroom, seven-bath mansion in Paramus, New Jersey. In the forged documents Whitehead included "entirely" fabricated information about a bank account "that did not in fact exist," and claimed the company had $2 million in assets “when in fact during that time period [the business] had an average ending balance of less than ten dollars."
According to his lawyer Dawn Florio, the bishop has maintained his innocence. “Lamor Whitehead will be pleading not guilty when he is arraigned on the [superseding] indictment and denies those charges,” said Florio. The 45-year-old pastor, who heads the Leaders of Tomorrow International church, was arrested on charges of fraud, extortion, and lying to federal authorities in December, 2022. He was accused of lying to a retired parishioner in an effort to get her money, extorting a businessman, and lying to federal authorities.
According to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, Whitehead scammed money out of multiple victims including the retired parishioner he received $90,000 from. He was said to have made promises to his victims, which he would fail to follow up on. He allegedly told some of them that he could make them richer through investments.
