A flashy, jewelry-wearing Brooklyn pastor was convicted Monday in federal court of using a parishioner’s retirement savings and trying to extort a businessman while touting he had connections to the New York City mayor.
Lamor Whitehead, nicknamed the “Bling Bishop,” is a pastor at the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries.
He was found guilty of five counts, including wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to the FBI.
Prosecutors said that Whitehead defrauded one of his parishioners by convincing her to invest $90,000 of her retirement savings with him, according to the indictment.
The document said Whitehead would help her buy a home and invest the money, but he used it on luxury goods and personal expenses instead.
“As the U.S. Attorney’s office said when they brought this case, the defendant ‘knew he could not obtain’ favors from city government.
With this ruling, that was proven right,” Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office told CNN Tuesday. »
