New York pastor Bishop Lamar Whitehead is being sued for $5 million for allegedly locking his congregation out of his Brooklyn church.
The controversial pastor and founder of the Leaders of Tomorrow International Churches, who has been in the news over the last year for all the wrong reasons, allegedly illegally evicted worshippers after purchasing a church building at auction.
Whitehead is reportedly being sued by Glory of God Global Ministry, for allegedly changing the locks to the church just weeks before Christmas.
According to a report in the New York Post, Whitehead is accused of buying the building at auction and then illegally changing the locks just weeks before Christmas, barring hundreds of members of the Glory of God from being able to attend Sunday services, AM New York first reported.
A judge sided with Glory of God in January, in a separate housing court case, allowing the ministry back into their building.
But now the Glory of God wants a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge to find Whitehead liable for breach of contract to the tune of $5 million for the alleged stunt.
The church also wants Whitehead to give up the property and “be forever barred from claiming ownership” of the building.
Known as the ‘bling bishop’ for driving a Rolls-Royce and wearing pricey jewelry and Gucci suits, Whitehead has made headlines in recent years for a slew of fraud charges after being robbed of his jewellery as he preached a livestreamed sermon.
He drew national attention when he was robbed while preaching. He then filed a $20 million lawsuit against two men, accusing them of smearing his name in social media comments and accusing the bishop of being a drug dealer and a scammer.
Then, just two months later, he was arrested after video appears to catch him pulling the hair of a woman while preaching in church.
Whitehead was in the middle of his sermon when a woman distracted him midway through. He immediately confronted the woman from the stage, and as she approached him, video shows him grabbing her by the hair.
New York Post says that Whitehead’s lawyer Brian Ponder told the newspaper the new case is “frivolous” and said once his client is served they will “move to dismiss it and seek sanctions against the plaintiff and its attorney.”
Whitehead is also facing fraud charges. In December, he was charged with fraud, including allegedly obtaining including $90,000 from a retired parishioner.
US prosecutors in Manhattan charged that the 45 year-old solicited money from victims – including $90,000 from a retired parishioner – using threats or false promises of enriching them, but then pocketed the money for himself and sometimes spent it on luxury goods.
New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging Lamor Whitehead with defrauding one of his parishioners out of part of her retirement savings, attempting to extort and defraud a businessman, and lying to the FBI.
Whitehead was arrested and was presented in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein.
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