L’Amour Whitehead, a notoriously flamboyant Brooklyn pastor, was charged Monday with fraud, attempted extortion, and attempted extortion charges by the FBI for allegedly withdrawing retirement funds from an elderly woman and using his connections to the mayor to blackmail a Bronx business owner. was found guilty of false charges.
A Manhattan grand jury found Whitehead, known for wearing designer suits, flashy jewelry and bold glasses, guilty of all charges, including wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and attempted extortion. .
Federal prosecutors say a church leader defrauded Pauline Anderson, the elderly mother of a parishioner, out of $90,000, and the owner of a Bronx auto repair shop sent Mayor Eric Adams an “official” letter on his behalf. He allegedly tried to extort thousands of dollars more with the promise of “favors.”
Prosecutors opened the trial last month calling Whitehead a “swindler who lied to one victim after another.”
Ms Whitehead, 45, persuaded Ms Anderson to make a huge investment in a house he said he would buy and renovate for her. Instead, he spent the cash on personal expenses, including purchases at Louis Vuitton and Foot Locker and car payments on a BMW, prosecutors said.
The pastor also tried to get Brandon Belmonte, an auto repair shop owner, to lend him $500,000 in exchange for a favor from the mayor, but Whitehead said Belmonte was like a mentor to him and said, “My He will do whatever you want.”
“[Whitehead] He lied, cheated, and stole to maintain an appearance of wealth,” prosecutor Jessica Greenwood said last month.
He “used lies and threats to extort money from his victims, and when his lies were discovered, he lied to the FBI,” Greenwood added.
Whitehead was charged with making false statements after he lied to FBI agents about the number of cellphones he owned after obtaining a search warrant in connection with a fraud investigation.
Whitehead is a pastor at Tomorrow’s Leaders International Ministries in Canarsie, and his extravagant fashion and flashy jewelry make him an eccentric figure in the Big Apple.
In July 2022, he and his wife were robbed at gunpoint while preaching on a live stream, making national news.
A trio of masked bandits stormed the mass and made off with the bishop’s $75,000 Rolex watch, $75,000 Cavalier watch, $25,000 ruby and diamond ring, and other valuables.
Then, in December 2022, the church leader was arrested on charges for which he has now been convicted.
Whitehead is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1 and could face decades in prison.
