A New York City bishop made headlines on Sunday last week after being robbed during a live church service.
The bishop is shown falling to the ground as masked intruders strip him of his multi-million rand jewellery in clips of the incident that have gone viral.
Shortly after the incident, Bishop Lamor Whitehead went online to defend himself against claims that he leads a wealthy lifestyle and engages in extravagant spending.
According to a recent report, Bishop Whitehead was charged with robbing one of his church members after convincing her to put her savings into his business enterprises in the wake of the crime.
On Monday of this week, New York City police officials announced that bishop Lamor Whitehead had been robbed on July 24 while conducting a live-streamed Sunday church service.
The bishop, who frequently wears multiple diamond rings and chains worth millions of dollars, was immediately criticised by many social media users.
He also has multi-million dollar houses and a Rolls Royce.
According to the most recent New York Post report, the flashy bishop was charged with defrauding one of his parishioners of $90,000 last year (around R143 million).
The publication claims that Pauline Anderson, 56, was persuaded by the clergyman to spend her life savings and give him a $90,000 “investment” in November 2020.
No repairs or compensation
Additionally, he assured her that the profits would be used to renovate her house and would pay her $100 (R1,6 000) per month because she had given him all of her savings and was in need of cash.
According to Anderson, he only sent her one payment of $100 in January 2021, but it was the only cash she ever got from him.
Since then, she has filed a lawsuit against the bishop who did acquire an apartment building in Hartford for himself for $4.5 million.
According to the filing, Anderson is requesting $1 million in compensation for Whitehead’s “morally reprehensible acts” and for “losing her entire life savings.”
The Post states that the lawsuit is still open.