Bishop Lamor M. Whitehead / Twitter
A new $5 million lawsuit has accused Bishop Lamor M. Whitehead, also known as the Brooklyn Bling Bishop, of creating a fake property deed of a church, claiming ownership and filing it in the New York City Register. This comes after he was robbed during a live stream Sunday service.
In addition to his Sunday service robbery, the bishop is a convicted felon with a record of grand larceny and identity fraud and has apparent ties with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the former Borough President of Brooklyn.
Interestingly, Whitehead ran for his Adams former office and used civil right leaders and victims of brutal to promote his campaign.
According to a lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star and filed in a Brooklyn Supreme Court, Whitehead is accused of falsifying documents that claimed he was the owner of a church building.
The lawsuit alleges that he used these falsified documents to evict the congregation earlier this year. The complaint was filed on April 28 and names both the pastor and Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries Inc. (LOTI) as defendants.
LOTI is a religious non-profit organization established in 2013 by Whitehead. The organization aims to empower every member to establish a relationship with Jesus Christ by equipping them with knowledge of His word. LOTI has two campuses, located in Brooklyn and Queens, New York.
The lawsuit revolves around the 5904 Foster Avenue Trust, which is an estate plan created for the property owned by siblings Lydia Moses and Michael Moses of the Glory of God Global Ministry. The trust is responsible for owning all of the rights, title, and interest of the real property situated at 5904 Foster Avenue which borders East Flatbush and Canarsie.
In February 2022, Whitehead purchased the building for $1.94 million at a foreclosure auction. However, a senior pastor at Glory of God disputed the tax lien that led to the foreclosure, arguing that they had not transferred ownership of the property to Whitehead, The New York Post reported.
Whitehead was interested in owning the property but lacked sufficient funds to acquire full ownership.
According to the complaint, even though Whitehead did not have all of the funds necessary to purchase the property, the trust still allowed him to handle two matters related to the property. This was because the trust believed that the financing would eventually come through.
The Moses family trust gave Whitehead permission to start a legal process to remove the occupants of the property and apply for financing to buy it.
The complaint states that Moses did not resign as trustee nor relinquish any of their authority or power in that position at any point.
In mid to late April, a few months after being charged with fraud, extortion, and making false statements relating to church members and real estate transactions, Whitehead tried to register a fake deed for the property in his name, according to the complaint, The Atlanta Black Star reported.
“On or about April 25, 2023, a deed dated April 19, 2023, was recorded in the Office of the City Register of the City of New York (hereinafter, “the fraudulent deed”),” the complaint said.
“The fraudulent deed was fraudulently executed by Defendant Whitehead as Trustee of the 5904 Foster Avenue Trust.”
Michael is pursuing compensation of $3.5 million from Whitehead and his church. He claims to be the lawful owner and trustee of the property and is requesting the city to nullify all of Whitehead’s deeds and any future transactions related to the property.
A civil court judge named Sandra Roper has ruled in favor of the Glory of God Global Ministry, issuing an order for their church building to be opened again. Although they were allowed to return to the space in January 2023, they were unable to hold services with members until April 2023 due to damage caused by a previous tenant, Whitehead, who threw many of the church’s belongings into dumpsters. Williams, the pastor of the church, documented the destruction and submitted it to the courts. Williams and his church have now filed a complaint against Whitehead for $5 million in damages, joining other plaintiffs.
Last December, the Brooklyn bishop was accused of trying to cheat a parishioner out of her life savings of $90,000 and coercing a businessman in the Bronx to give him $5,000. He then allegedly used his vague connections to local government officials, including the mayor, to convince the businessman to invest $500,000 with him, despite knowing that he couldn’t fulfill the promises he made. The bishop was also accused of lying to the FBI about having a second cell phone. In March, he faced additional charges for fabricating bank account details on mortgage applications for his New Jersey estate. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. He is currently out on a bond of $500,000.
Mayor Adams has no direct involvement with the crime.
Whitehead has pleaded not guilty and firmly denied the accusations against him. In March, he took legal action against Brandon Belmonte, a businessman from the Bronx, for making defamatory remarks to the New Yorker regarding the purported incident that resulted in the federal charges. Whitehead is seeking damages of $200 million.