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”.
I get that, but the local priest or pastor isn’t holding service in a former basketball arena with giant piles of cash hidden in the walls,or selling doomsday kits to preppers or has a private airport in his estate where he keeps a fleet of private jets. It’s not even comparable to a local priest or pastor that drives a BMW or buys his wife a designer handbag every year for Christmas. Televangelist prosperity gospel preachers spend more in a year than your local Bishop will make in his entire life.
There is a lot you can criticize any religious organization for, but i do believe that most people who join the church originally did so out of piety and devotion to the faith before being corrupted by the power that comes with the position. Prosperity gospel is the opposite, where conmen realize they can openly grift the poor and desperate tax free. Say what you will about the Catholic Church and their willingness to cover up heinous crimes that their clergy commit, but the archbishop or Cardinal will definitely investigate and take action if they findout a bishop or priest has been embezzling funds from their congregation, and your local diocese does a lot of community outreach that you probably aren’t even aware of. Non-denominational megachurchs aren’t running food kitchens, homeless shelters, or giving money to those in need. They exist solely to extract wealth from followers and fund the labish lifestyle of the church leader.
Your local denominational churchs aren’t asking for money saying that god will pay it back tenfold eventually. They are upfront about what they are doing with the money and you should only give what you can afford because it is the right thing to do if you love the church. Weekly service at the local church is still important to a lot of people for lots of social reasons, and those churchs need money to be able to offer those services, which means tiths and donations are necessary. But even the most ostentatious Cathedral or Southern Baptist church will have sermons about the evil and corrupting influence of money.