Brooklyn Bishop robbed at gunpoint sued for stealing parishioner's life savings

Brooklyn Bishop Lamor Whitehead, who was robbed at gunpoint during a church service on Sunday of more than $400,000 worth of jewelry, is being sued by a 56-year-old woman who alleges he defrauded her out of her life savings.

The City reported on Thursday that Whitehead allegedly stole $90,000 from a parishioner by promising her that he would help her buy a home, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed last year in the Brooklyn Supreme Court and states that Whitehead convinced Pauline Anderson to hand him her money because he promised he could buy her some real estate, despite her bad credit.

According to the lawsuit, "Mr. Whitehead fraudulently induced Ms. Anderson to liquidate her entire life savings to pay him the 'investment' of $90,000.00, promising to use the funds to purchase and renovate a house for her."

Pauline Anderson started attending Whitehead's church in January 2020 and soon afterwards Whitehead allegedly helped her son Rasheed buy a home. Whitehead and Anderson began communicating on the housing issue after the pastor started praying with her via phone while she recovered from a life-threatening surgery in summer 2020.

In November 2020, Anderson wrote Whitehead a $90,000 cashier’s check and asked him to give her $100 monthly allowances to pay for her living expenses. She wrote the check to Lamor Whitehead Inc, one of the pastor's firms, never got a receipt, and only received one initial month's allowance. Then months went by without her allowances or any progress on the home purchase.

After she pursued an explanation the pastor told her that her life savings was being treated as a donation for his then-run for Brooklyn borough president, which he lost, and that he had no obligation to pay her life savings back.

The role of Brooklyn borough president was previously held by Whitehead's good friend, NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

The lawsuit reads, "Ms. Anderson was instead left with nothing but a vague promise by Mr. Whitehead to pay the funds back in the future followed by an assertion that he had no further obligation to do so."

Bishop Whitehead is also a convict who served a five-year prison sentence for identity fraud and grand larceny. In May, Whitehead made headlines as he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the surrender of Andrew Abdullah, the man charged with the shooting death of Goldman Sachs employee Daniel Enriquez. Whitehead claimed that Abdullah, who had 19 prior arrests, was "innocent," and that his family "has untold paperwork showing that he has mental health issues."

According to the New York Post, Lamor is a "Rolls Royce-driving" ex-convict whose multiple identity fraud and grand larceny charges were related to a $2 million identity theft scheme from 2006.

Lamor was released from prison in 2013 after serving 5 years, and moved into ministry as well as creating a friendship with current NYC mayor Eric Adams, who has described Lamor as "my good friend and good brother." Whitehead has called Adams a "friend" and "mentor."

The New York Post also reports that Lamor has other litigation pending over fraud as Monterey Symphony conductor Maximo Bragado-Darman claims Whitehead owes him $260,000 for an unpaid loan, and that the deal was over a real estate transaction.