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Controversial NYC Bishop Lamor Whitehead was indicted Wednesday by federal prosecutors on a new fraud charge.
Manhattan federal prosecutors hit Bishop Whitehead with a new charge of fraud in an indictment Wednesday.
Bishop Whitehead “fabricated bank records for AMS LLC, from at least in or about October 2018 up to and including…February 2019, in an effort to obtain a mortgage in excess of $1.3 million to fund a purchase of a home in Paramus, New Jersey,” the indictment alleges.
According to the indictment, Bishop Whitehead altered bank records to make it appear that AMS LLC, had an average balance of more than $2 million – when it actually had less than $10.
Bishop Whitehead was arrested in December 2022 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York for fraud, extortion, and false statements after being accused of swindling a retired parishioner of $90,000.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead faces years in prison if convicted
FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said “as we allege today, Whitehead carried out several duplicitous schemes in order to receive funds from his victims. Additionally, when speaking with authorities, Whitehead consciously chose to mislead and lie to them. If you are willing to attempt to obtain funds through false promises or threats, the FBI will ensure that you are made to face the consequences for your actions in our criminal justice system.”
Bishop Whitehead received national attention earlier in 2022 after an alleged abrupt robbery was captured via live stream during a church service in July.
Though Whitehead’s version of events have been widely disputed, as he tells it, the thieves demanded that he and his wife turn over all their jewelry, which included a $75,000 Rolex watch, a $75,000 Cavalier watch, a $25,000 Episcopal ruby-and-diamond ring, and a $25,000 Episcopal diamond ring, among other gem-encrusted baubles, according to the New York Post.
A few weeks later he went viral once again after he was involved in an incident with a woman in his church, putting his hands around her neck and forcibly removing her.
Bishop Whitehead faces dozens of years in prison if convicted of all charges.
“We are going to be fighting those allegations,” his attorney, Dawn Florio, said Wednesday. “Lamor Whitehead will be pleading not guilty when he is arraigned on the … indictment and denies those charges.”