PROSECUTORS: FRAUD FED PREACHER’S FLASHY LIFESTYLE
A Brooklyn preacher known for his close friendship with New York City’s mayor and a previous stint behind bars was arrested Monday on charges he plundered a parishioner’s retirement savings to bankroll his flashy lifestyle and extorted a businessman by falsely claiming he could lean on city connections to make “millions” together.
Lamor Miller-Whitehead — a Rolls Royce-driving bishop who made headlines in July when armed bandits crashed his church service and robbed him of $1 million in jewelry — pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, extortion and making false statements for allegedly lying to FBI agents by denying he had a second cellphone. The wire fraud and extortion charges each carry a maximum punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Miller-Whitehead’s “campaign of fraud and deceit stops now,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. An indictment, returned last week under seal and placed in a courthouse vault, was made public ahead of his arraignment Monday.
Miller-Whitehead, 45, was released on a $500,000 personal recognizance bond. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield said he must stay in the New York City area while the case is pending, maintain employment and can’t have any contact with alleged victims or witnesses.
“Bishop Lamor Whitehead is not guilty of these charges,” defense lawyer Dawn Florio said. “He will be vigorously defending these allegations. He feels that he is being targeted and being turned into a villain from a victim.”
Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who grew close to Miller-Whitehead while serving as Brooklyn’s borough president, said: “I’ve spent decades enforcing the law and expect everyone to follow it. I have also dedicated my life to assisting individuals with troubled pasts. While these allegations are troubling, I will withhold further comment
until the process reaches its final conclusion.”
Prosecutors did not implicate Adams and did not
mention Miller-Whitehead’s ties to him.
Miller-Whitehead formed the Leaders of Tomorrow International
Ministries in 2013 after serving a five-year prison sentence for identity theft and grand larceny in a case that he claims was the result of an illegal conviction. Despite preaching in Brooklyn, he lives in a $1.6 million home in Paramus, N.J., records show. He also owns apartment buildings in Hartford, Conn.
Miller-Whitehead is accused of bilking victims with threats and false promises of a better life and big investment returns. Miller-Whitehead took the money “with no intention of investing it, returning it, or enriching the victims,” the indictment said.