Naman Shrestha
In one of the episodes of Hulu’s ‘Scam Goddess,’ Laci Mosley travels to the Big Apple in order to dig deeper into the case of Lamor-Miller Whitehead, who scammed several of his parishioners into funding his church with the promise of giving them tenfolds in return. Through his congregation, he managed to fund his own lavish lifestyle by spending their money on designer clothes and accessories for himself.
Lamor-Miller Whitehead Served a Sentence for Identity Theft Before Leading a Congregation in NYC
Lamor-Miller Whitehead was born on April 30, 1978, and was raised in Brooklyn, New York City. He claimed that his father was Arthur Miller, who was killed by the police in Crown Heights. After passing out from high school, he reportedly pursued accounting and videography at Eastern New Mexico University. Following his graduation, he returned to New York and worked as a mortgage broker for a while before studying at the New York Theological Seminary. Later, he also earned a Ministry in Human Services certificate from the Theological Institution of Rising Hope Inc., allowing him to become a licensed New York State Chaplain and a certified marriage and funeral officiant.
By 2005, Lamor was residing in Teaneck, New Jersey, when he was taken into custody after someone filed a criminal complaint against him. The authorities discovered that he had been running an identity theft operation and had taken dozens of victims across the nation. Thus, he was convicted of identity theft in 2008 and served five years in Sing Sing Correctional Facility until 2013. After his release from prison, Lamor was determined to start afresh, so he returned to Brooklyn, where he led a church called Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries and began scheming yet another scam. While running the church, he first gained the trust of his parishioners, only to steal from them later.
Lamor-Miller Whitehead Extorted Money From a Parishioner by Making a False Promise
Lamor Whitehead, also known as the Bling Bishop due to his blingy attires, convinced Pauline Anderson to invest $90,000 of her retirement savings with the promise of helping her buy a house. Instead, he spent the money to support his own extravagant lifestyle. He also tried to persuade a businessman named Brandon Belmonte to lend him $500,000 in exchange for granting him access to the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. In addition, he also submitted fraudulent bank statements in order to obtain a $250,000 business loan. When Lamor kept postponing returning Pauline’s money, she sued him in 2021, after which he filed a countersuit. The following year was filled with ups and downs for the Bling Bishop.
In July 2022, Lamor and his wife, Asia DosReis-Whitehead, were ambushed during a service at his church, which was being live-streamed, and were robbed by three masked gunmen of expensive jewelry worth nearly $1 million. The incident made headlines across the country, and in September, a couple of men were arrested for the robbery. The third suspect in the robbery was encountered by the US Marshals in January 2024. In December 2022, he was accused of using Pauline’s money to buy luxury goods, misrepresenting his relationship with Mayor Eric Adams, and attempting to fraud Brandon with thousands of dollars. As a result, he was arrested, and his case was investigated by the public corruption unit.
Lamor-Miller Whitehead is Currently Incarcerated at a New York State Prison Facility
In 2024, Lamor-Miller Whitehead stood trial for his crimes, claiming his innocence and denying all the accusations against him in court. The prosecution emphasized his earlier conviction of identity theft and the current allegations of scamming his parishioners by presenting evidence to support their arguments. On the other hand, the defense tried their best to sway the jury in Lamor’s favor. However, after about three hours of deliberation, in March 2024, the jury returned with a guilty verdict and convicted him of five counts, including attempted extortion, wire fraud, lying to the FBI, and defrauding a parishioner.
A few months later, on June 17, the Bling Bishop was sentenced to nine years in prison for his crimes. Moreover, he was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $85,000 in restitution and forfeit $95,000. Following the sentencing, US Attorney Damian Williams stated, “Lamor Whitehead is a con man who stole millions of dollars in a string of financial frauds and even stole from one of his own parishioners. He lied to federal agents, and again to the Court at his trial. Today’s sentence puts an end to Whitehead’s various schemes and reflects this Office’s commitment to bring accountability to those who abuse their positions of trust.” As of today, he is serving his sentence behind the bars of a New York State prison.
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