The federal fraud trial against Brooklyn’s “Bring Bishop” LaMore Whitehead began Monday afternoon, with prosecutors alleging that he lied, cheated and stole to finance a lavish lifestyle.
Bishop Whitehead, 47, who drove the Rolls-Royce, has pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to the FBI.
“This is a case about fraud, a case about con artists who lied to one victim after another,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Greenwood told jurors in her opening statement at the start of Whitehead’s trial. He spoke to the following people.
The typically flamboyant religious leader sat in a Manhattan courtroom in a dark suit, listening attentively as prosecutors laid out the case against him. Whitehead is accused of defrauding the mother of a parishioner out of retirement benefits, defrauding and attempting to extort a local businessman, and lying to the FBI.
New York City’s ‘Bring Bishop’ accused of defrauding parishioners of retirement funds to fund lavish lifestyle: indictment
A Brooklyn preacher who prosecutors say plundered his parishioners’ retirement savings and tried to extort from businessmen to finance his lavish lifestyle was arrested Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in a Manhattan federal prison. was tried in court. (AP Photo/Mary Altafer, File)
Mr Greenwood said Mr Whitehead’s aim was to obtain money and had expensive hobbies. “The defendant was willing to lie, cheat and steal in order to continue to display his wealth,” she said.
The jury heard prosecutors explain how Whitehead allegedly targeted single mothers. She convinced the woman to give her $90,000 of her severance pay and she believed Mr. Whitehead would help her find a home, she said.
Instead, he used the money for himself, including paying for a Louis Vuitton bag and a BMW, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also said Whitehead used his friendship with New York Mayor Eric Adams to extort cash from local businessmen. Whitehead is accused of promising Adams favors in exchange for $500,000. Adams allegedly promised body shop owner Brandon Belmonte, “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
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Bishop Lamor Whitehead speaks during a press conference in Brooklyn on July 29, 2022. Bishop Whitehead will go on trial two years after a grand jury returned charges of wire fraud and attempted extortion. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The bishop and the mayor became friends while Mr. Adams served as Brooklyn borough president before being elected mayor. Asked about last week’s allegations, Adams told reporters that legal filings by prosecutors “clearly state the following.” [Whitehead] There was no permission and no connectivity with the action. [the] Mayor or borough president. ”
Belmonte filed a complaint with federal authorities, who launched an investigation into Whitehead in 2022, and Whitehead was arrested about six months later.
Defense attorney Dawn Florio told jurors into a microphone that there was a “lack of evidence” and there were “holes” in the government’s case.
Florio denied the charges against his client, saying the woman was tricked by her son into borrowing money to buy a house for himself, leaving his mother with nothing. She also said that the allegations that she blackmailed the owner of a local chiropractic shop were not true and were actually a civil dispute between the two, not a criminal matter.
New York City’s ‘Bling Bishop’ goes on trial on fraud charges, prosecutors say facilitated lavish lifestyle
Lamor Whitehead will appear in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on September 28, 2022. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Florio urged jurors to assess the credibility of witnesses and keep an open mind because “your mind has to be like a parachute.”
Whitehead has been held on $500,000 bail since his arrest, just months after a robbery in which $1 million in jewelry was stolen by gunmen during a church service.
The judge agreed in the pretrial evidence ruling to exclude mention of Mr. Whitehead’s conviction for identity theft and grand larceny, which resulted in a five-year prison term. It could be taken up if he decides to testify.
Whitehead founded Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in 2013 and became a bishop.
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The Brooklyn preacher owns a $1.6 million home in Paramus, New Jersey, and an apartment in Hartford, Connecticut.
Mr. Whitehead has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial is expected to last about a week and a half.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
