The flashy Brooklyn pastor who was robbed of greater than $1 million in jewellery throughout a livestreamed church service was accused of stealing $90,000 from a congregant in a lawsuit filed final yr.
Bishop Lamor Whitehead — who is understood for flaunting his Gucci fits, diamond-encrusted chains and secure of luxurious autos — allegedly has a historical past of grifting and even served time in jail for identification theft and grand larceny.
Pauline Anderson, 56, accused the Rolls-Royce-driving clergyman of convincing her to liquidate her life financial savings and pay him a $90,000 “funding” in November 2020 with the promise that he would purchase and renovate a house for her, in line with her Brooklyn Supreme Court docket lawsuit.
Whitehead additionally agreed to pay Anderson $100 per 30 days, because the financial savings was her solely supply of revenue, says the go well with, first reported by The Metropolis on Thursday.
Whitehead, 44, allegedly solely made one of many $100 funds to Anderson in January 2021, and every time she requested concerning the standing of her house within the following months, he repeatedly informed her that he was tied up together with his election marketing campaign for Brooklyn borough president, in line with the lawsuit.
Finally, as an alternative of serving to Anderson discover a house, Whitehead used the funds as down cost on the contract to buy a $4.4 million house for himself in Saddle River, New Jersey, the go well with alleges.
Anderson — who was launched to Whitehead by way of her son Rasheed Anderson in 2020 — solely came upon concerning the Saddle River house after Whitehead accidently despatched an e-mail to Rasheed concerning the buy, the lawsuit says.
The Saddle River buy didn’t undergo. However Whitehead did purchase a $4.5 million house complicated in Hartford, Conn., in line with The Metropolis.
Anderson stated she was informed she couldn’t get a mortgage due to her below-average credit, which is when Whitehead stepped in together with his provide to assist, the lawsuit alleges.
Regardless of having “reservations” about handing over the hefty sum to Whitehead, Anderson went by way of with it “as a result of he was a supposed man of the fabric and had beforehand helped her personal son safe housing for himself,” the go well with claims.
He later allegedly informed her that he was investing the money in his firm, and had no obligation to pay it again, in line with the go well with.
“Ms. Anderson was as an alternative left with nothing however a obscure promise by Mr. Whitehead to pay the funds again sooner or later adopted by an assertion that he had no additional obligation to take action,” the submitting fees.
Anderson is searching for $1 million in damages for Whitehead’s “morally reprehensible acts” and for “dropping her total life financial savings,” the submitting claims.
The case continues to be pending.
Whitehead has not filed any papers within the case nor has any lawyer appeared on his behalf, courtroom data present.
The flamboyant pastor has had ties to Mayor Eric Adams since at the least 2013 and final made headlines in Could when he tried to barter the give up of an accused subway shooter and claimed to have spoken with Hizzoner whereas the suspect was on the unfastened.
On Sunday, Whitehead was accosted throughout companies on the Leaders of Tomorrow Worldwide Ministries in Canarsie by three gun-wielding males who made off with a treasure trove of things, together with a $75,000 Rolex watch.
He later defended his life-style, saying that his public shows of wealth didn’t lead to the gunpoint theft, as critics prompt his “blinged-out’’ look may have made him an outsize goal.
Whitehead didn't instantly return a message left on the congregation Thursday.
Anderson’s legal professionals declined to remark because the lawsuit continues to be pending.
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