Bishop Lamor Whitehead has been receiving sideways glances for his business dealings since mid-2022. Now, nearly two years after a church member accused him of scamming her out of $90,000, a New York court has sentenced White head of crime.
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After the news, he turned to social media to dust off his contaminated name.
“The story is not over…it’s just a new chapter…stay tuned…God is still God…Now everyone can laugh and talk. After that, Jesus will still receive the glory. Stay tuned for this new chapter called truth and vindication.”
What Happened Between Bishop Lamor Whitehead and His Former Church Member
As previously reported, one of Bishop Lamor’s faithful filed a lawsuit against him in 2021. News of the lawsuit emerged just weeks after he and his wife were robbed at gunpoint during a live broadcast of a service.
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At the time, people online began to sharply question the bishop’s lifestyle, including his affinity for designer clothes with loud prints and luxury cars. In the lawsuit, Pauline Anderson accused Lamor Whitehead of convincing her to liquidate her savings in November 2020.
His supposed promise was that he would help her buy a house, given her difficulties in doing so due to her poor credit history. But after receiving $90,000 through his company Lamor Whitehead Inc., the bishop allegedly began embezzling the then-56-year-old.
They agreed that she would receive a monthly allowance of $100 from the funds. Only one payment reached Pauline’s pockets in January 2021. Later that year, Pauline threatened to expose Bishop Lamor Whitehead and report him to the police. In text messages, he stated that the money had already been invested.
“I will also send receipts and accounts from people I hired months ago to start the investment process! And for the record, everything given to me is a donation unless it is attached to a contract! I was making investments, that’s what I do! For the record,” wrote Bishop Lamor Whitehead in texts published by the city.
In her lawsuit, Pauline sought $1 million in damages for the bishop’s “morally reprehensible acts.”
Details about the bishop’s conviction
In December 2022, things went from a civil case to a criminal case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York accused him with two counts of wire fraud, one count of extortion and one count of making false statements.
He was accused of defrauding a member of his church, trying to defraud another businessman of $5,000 and lying to the FBI during an investigation. US Attorney Damian Williams stated, at the time, that Bishop Lamor Whitehead was conducting a “campaign of fraud and deceit.” The arrest affidavit accused Whitehead of using Pauline’s life savings “on luxury goods and other personal expenses.”
As a result, he was arrested but later released on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty. In a 15-minute video statement, he denied any guilt in the allegations.
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More than a year later, on March 11, a New York jury convicted Lamor Whitehead of the charges listed above. His sentencing date is set for July and he reportedly faces 45 years in prison. However, his lawyer plans to appeal his conviction, for CBS News.
According to the outlet, he was previously convicted of 17 counts of fraud in 2008. It’s unclear what impact, if any, this prior conviction will have on his upcoming sentence.
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