A flamboyant Brooklyn pastor known as the “Bling bishop” has been sentenced to nine years in prison for schemes that included preying on the bank account of one of his own followers.
Lamor Whitehead, a New York preacher known for his flashy lifestyle, was found guilty in March of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to federal investigators.
Prosecutors argued that Whitehead, 45, used his position as a religious leader to fleece people out of money to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Whitehead made headlines in 2022 after he was robbed at gunpoint during a live-streamed sermon. The thieves made off with $1m (£840,000) in watches, diamonds and emeralds.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called Whitehead a “con man” and said the sentence marks the end of his “various schemes”.
You must log in or register to comment.
preying on the bank account of one of his own followers
Preying on the bank accounts of ALL of his followers is his literal job as a prosperity gospel preacher.
How fucking stupid and greedy do you have to be if your job is LEGALLY bilking people for millions of dollars and you STILL can’t help doing it illegally too?! 🤦
Isn’t that the job of every religious leader? To get their parishioners to give up their money? Christianity has it built right in with the 10% tithe.
It’s supposed to pay reasonable bills and feed, clothes, shelter people and comfort prisoners, but you know…I think we should do that with tax dollars and mutual aid/donations but that’s just me.
Putting forth a lavish image while teaching about a book with a core message of selfless humble living should be a red flag. Not that he’s the first by a long shot.
Jesus was a pinko hippie vagrant, what with his transience and homelessness, healing and feeding people for free and quest of all his forgiveness and turning the other cheek. He was also one heck of a magician, multiplying meager food supplies for a few into enough for 5k people and necromancy. I guess healing is magic, the way he did it, though.
Oh and on top of all that, he l didn’t subjugate those of the feminine persuasion and performed most of his miracles for Palestinians, Syrians and other foreigners, crossing borders without legal documentation.
The Jesus of modern religion is just Mammon, in expensive cheap costume, caked on stage makeup and really good lighting.
Isn’t their core message to do whatever they feel like, then repent just before death so sky daddy can take them to their special club?
It’s not in the gospels, but an apostle later said faith without works* is dead. He probably said some abhorrent stuff too, but it’s late and I’m too tired to think.
