The New York City bishop robbed of $1 million worth of jewelry during a Livestream service has been hit with federal fraud and extortion charges.
Early Monday, Bishop Lamor Whitehead was arrested on an indictment out of Manhattan.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Whitehead scammed a parishioner out of $90,000 in retirement savings to buy himself expensive items.
Earlier this year, Whitehead blasted reporters for asking questions concerning the alleged loss of the parishioner’s savings during a news conference.
In a separate incident, prosecutors claim Whitehead allegedly demanded $5,000 from a businessman and later attempted to convince the same man to loan him $500,000 in exchange for “favorable actions from the New York City government, which Whitehead knew he could not obtain.”
As part of a search warrant executed by the FBI, Whitehead is also accused of lying about having multiple cell phones.
In addition to his prior five-year prison sentence on identity theft charges, Whitehead now faces up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud and extortion charge.
