HUNTINGTON, NEW YORK - JULY 31: Bishop Lamor Whitehead attends A Great Gatsby Affair at Oheka Castle on July 31, 2022 in Huntington, New York. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Bishop Lamor Whitehead has been receiving side-eyes for his business dealings since mid-2022. Now, nearly two years since a church member accused him of scamming her of $90,000, a New York court has convicted Whitehead of the crime.
Following the news, he took to social media to dust off his tainted name.
“The story isn’t over…it’s just a new chapter…stay tuned…God is still God…They can all laugh now and talk. After this, Jesus will still get the glory. Stay tuned for this new chapter called truth and vindication.”
As previously reported, one of Bishop Lamor’s congregants filed a lawsuit against him in 2021. News of the filing surfaced just weeks after he and his wife were robbed at gunpoint while livestreaming a service.
At the time, folks online began heavily questioning the Bishop’s lifestyle, including his affinity for loud print designer clothing and luxury cars. In the lawsuit, Pauline Anderson accused Lamor Whitehead of convincing her to liquidate her savings in November 2020.
His alleged promise was that he’d help her purchase a home, given her struggles with doing so due to poor credit history. But after receiving her $90,000 via his firm Lamor Whitehead Inc., the Bishop allegedly began swerving the then 56-year-old.
They had agreed that she’d get a monthly allowance of $100 from the funds. Only one payment made it into 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 claimed the money had already been invested.
“I will also send you proof and bills from people that I hire months ago to start the process of investments! And for the record anything that was given to me is a donation unless it’s attached to a contract! I was making investments that’s what I do! For the record,” Bishop Lamor Whitehead wrote in texts published by The City.
In her lawsuit, Pauline sought $1 million in damages for the bishop’s “morally reprehensible acts.”
By December 2022, things escalated beyond a civil lawsuit to a criminal case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York charged him with two counts of wire fraud, one count of extortion, and one count of making false statements.
He was accused of defrauding his church member, attempting to defraud another businessman for $5,000, and lying to the FBI during an investigation. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated, at the time, that Bishop Lamor Whitehead had been running a “campaign of fraud and deceit.” The arrest statement 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 a $500,000 bond after pleading not guilty. In a 15-minute video statement, he denied any guilt in the charges.
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 is reportedly facing 45 years in prison. However, his lawyer plans to appeal the conviction, per CBS News.
According to the outlet, he was previously convicted on 17 counts of fraud in 2008. It’s unclear what impact, if any, that past conviction will have on his upcoming sentence.
