Flashy New York City pastor Lamor Miller-Whitehead is back in the news again.
He made headlines recently when he and his wife were robbed of what he claimed to be a $1 million worth of jewelry during his July 24 sermon. Much of the robbery was caught on the the church’s video camera and live streamed. Now Miller-Whitehead, the pastor of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches in Brooklyn, is back in the news for allegedly stealing $90,000 from a congregant, according to a lawsuit filed in 2021. The New York Post uncovered the lawsuit recently.
In the lawsuit filed by 56-year-old Pauline Anderson, Miller-Whitehead is accused of convincing the church member to invest almost all of her entire life savings in one of his firms.
“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,” states the lawsuit. “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.”
Anderson claimed he promised he could help her buy a home even though she was plagued with bad credit history, The Post reported.
Whitehead did do a home buy — but for himself, she charges. The pastor, who is prone to wearing Gucci suits and diamond-encrusted watches, used her investment money as down payment on a $4.4 million home for himself in Saddle River, New Jersey, the suit alleges.
Prior to the lawsuit, Whitehead and Anderson came to an agreement in which the pastor agreed to pay Anderson $100 per month, The City reported. So far, he’s only made one of the $100 payments, according to the lawsuit, which is still pending.
The bishop, 44, also owns a $1.6 million home in Paramus, N.J., purchased in 2019, according to public records. And he bought a half-block of apartments in Hartford, Conn. through his firm Whitehead Estates, LLC, The City reported. To do so, he borrowed $4.15 million from a mortgage company in December 2021.According to The City, there was a default notice, dated July 25, 2022, for the Hartford property taped to the front door. Mortgage payments on the property have not been paid since at least June 1.
It has also come to light that the bishop has a criminal record, having served time in prison for identity theft and grand larceny.
As to his recent robbery, Whitehead has offered $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of the alleged bandits.
