By Abimbola Ologun
Bishop, Lamor Miller-Whitehead in Brooklyn, New York City, USA have been pronounced guilty of wire fraud, attempted extortion and lying to the FBI, by the Federal Court.
Sequential to the trial that started late last month, the flashy Bishop was convicted by the Federal Court in Manhattan on five counts charges.
He was also accused of conning an elderly woman Pauline Anderson,of $90,000, promising that he would buy her a house, but lavished the money on luxury items the prosecutor said.
According to the Assistant U.S Attorney,Jessica Greenwood the 47 years old bishop was ‘trusted by many in his community before his long record of fraudulent activities came to light.
The Attorney said “The defendant abused that trust by lying again and again.”
“He lied about how much money he had. He lied about his business plans. And he lied about having influence with powerful people. All with the goal of getting money and property to fund his extravagant lifestyle.”
Jessica also accused Whitehead of convincing an elderly woman, a former nurse, that he would use her retirement savings to buy her a home to live in.
Whitehead ultimately squandered the money on designer clothing and a BMW payment.
When the victim’s son attempted to retrieve his mother’s funds, Whitehead said in a text message he would ask God to ‘exact vengeance’ upon him.
In addition, the extravagant bishop tried to get Brandon Belmonte an auto body shop owner to lend him $500,000 in return for favors from the mayor who he claimed was like a mentor to him and would and will do whatever he wanted.
The Attorney said last month “Whitehead lied, cheated and stole to keep up a wealthy appearance,”
Jessica added“He used lies and threats to get money from his victims and when lies caught up to him, he lied to the FBI,”
The ‘Bling Bishop,’ run a church in Canarsie called Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries
In December 2022, Miller Whitehead was arrested on the charges on which he’s now been convicted.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1.
