Connect with us

Northeast

Brooklyn's 'Bling Bishop' Lamor Whitehead denies stealing from parishioner's mother on day 1 of fraud trial

Published

on

Brooklyn's 'Bling Bishop' Lamor Whitehead denies stealing from parishioner's mother on day 1 of fraud trial

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

Please enter a valid email address.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided.

Having trouble? Click here.

The federal fraud trial of Brooklyn’s “Bling Bishop” Lamor Whitehead began Monday afternoon with prosecutors arguing he lied, cheated and stole to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Whitehead, 47, a Rolls-Royce-driving bishop, has pleaded not guilty to wire fraud, attempted extortion and making false statements to the FBI.  

Advertisement

“This is a case about fraud, about a conman who told lie after lie to victim after victim,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Greenwood told jurors during her opening statement at the start of Whitehead’s trial. 

The typically ostentatious religious leader sat in a Manhattan courtroom wearing a dark suit and listening attentively as prosecutors laid out their case against him. Whitehead is accused of defrauding the mother of one of his parishioners out of her retirement savings, attempting to defraud and extort a local businessman, and lying to the FBI.  

NYC ‘BLING BISHOP’ ACCUSED OF DEFRAUDING PARISHONER OF RETIREMENT MONEY TO FUND LUXURY LIFESTYLE: INDICTMENT

The Brooklyn preacher who prosecutors say looted a parishioner’s retirement savings and tried to extort a businessman to fuel his lavish lifestyle went on trial Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Manhattan federal court. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Greenwood said Whitehead’s goal was to get money and he had expensive tastes. “The defendant was willing to lie, cheat and steal to keep up the appearance of wealth,” she said. 

Advertisement

The jury listened as the prosecutor described how Whitehead allegedly targeted a single mother. She said he convinced the woman to give him $90,000 of her retirement savings and believed that Whitehead was going to assist her in finding a home.

Instead, prosecutors say, the defendant spent the money on himself – on Louis Vuitton bags and payments for a BMW, among other things.

Prosecutors also said Whitehead leveraged his friendship with New York City Mayor Eric Adams to extort cash from a local businessman. Whitehead is accused of promising favors from Adams in exchange for $500,000. He allegedly promised Brandon Belmonte, a body shop owner, that Adams would “do whatever I need.”

NYC BISHOP ROBBED OF $1M IN JEWELRY MID-SERMON FILES $20M LAWSUITS AGAINST SOCIAL MEDIA CRITICS CLAIMING HOAX

Bishop Lamor Whitehead speaks during a news conference in Brooklyn on July 29, 2022. Whitehead faces trial two years after a grand jury lodged wire fraud and attempted extortion charges against him. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Advertisement

The bishop and the mayor became friends while Adams served as Brooklyn’s borough president before he was elected to lead the city. Asked about the allegations last week, Adams told reporters legal filings by the prosecution “stated that clearly [Whitehead] did not have authorization and there was no connectivity to the actions of [the] mayor or borough president.”

Belmonte complained to federal authorities, who opened an investigation into Whitehead in 2022 that led to his arrest about six months later. 

Defense attorney Dawn Florio, enunciating into the mic, told jurors there is a “lack of evidence” and that the government’s case has “holes in it.”  

Florio denied the charges against her client and said the woman was cheated by her own son, who borrowed the money to buy a home for himself, leaving his mother with nothing. She also said the allegations of extorting a local body shop owner are not true, and that it is really a civil dispute between the two men, not a criminal matter. 

NYC ‘BLING BISHOP’ FACES TRIAL FOR FRAUD CHARGES PROSECUTORS SAY FUELD LAVISH LIFESTYLE

Advertisement

Lamor Whitehead leaves federal court on Sept. 28, 2022, in Brooklyn, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Florio urged the jurors to assess the credibility of the witnesses and to keep an open mind because their “mind must be like a parachute.”

Whitehead has been free on $500,000 bail since his arrest, which came only months after he was the victim of a robbery when $1 million in jewelry was stolen from him by gunmen who surprised him during a church service.

Among pretrial evidentiary rulings, the judge agreed to exclude mention of Whitehead’s criminal conviction for identity theft and grand larceny, which resulted in a five-year prison stint, although it could be brought up if he decides to testify.

Whitehead became a bishop when he founded the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in 2013. 

Advertisement

 

The Brooklyn preacher owns a $1.6 million home in Paramus, New Jersey, and an apartment in Hartford, Connecticut. 

Whitehead has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.  The trial is expected to last about a week and a half.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Northeast

Rhode Island teacher accused of sexting, kissing high school boy

Published

on

Rhode Island teacher accused of sexting, kissing high school boy

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A married high school physical education teacher has been indicted on two counts of third-degree sexual assault after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student. 

Alisha Crins is accused of exchanging sexually suggestive messages and engaging in sexual contact with the student while he was enrolled at Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island as a 17-year-old, according to an affidavit cited by WPRI.

The investigation began after the former student filed a formal complaint with Rhode Island State Police in October, the documents obtained by WPRI show.

According to the affidavit, the student told investigators Crins began texting him while he was a sophomore after allegedly finding his cellphone number online.

Advertisement

A sign marks the main entrance to Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island. (Google Maps)

He said she initially asked him to do work for her while she was on vacation, but the two continued communicating through text messages and social media after that plan fell through.

The student alleged the relationship escalated during his junior year. He told investigators Crins frequently complimented his appearance and once asked to wear his jersey during a school pep rally.

He further alleged Crins invited him to meet near her Cranston home, where they kissed inside his vehicle. During a later encounter, she allegedly climbed into the back seat and engaged in sexual contact, according to the affidavit. The student denied having sexual intercourse with her.

The alleged assaults took place between April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, according to WJAR.

Advertisement

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH CHARGED WITH RAPING FOSTER DAUGHTER, SERVING VICTIM TEQUILA SHOTS: REPORT

A Rhode Island State Police cruiser parked near a waterfront with boats visible in the background. (Rhode Island State Police Facebook)

When questioned by investigators, Crins denied “getting physical” beyond a single kiss but admitted to flirting and exchanging text messages that contained “sexual innuendos,” the affidavit states.

She also acknowledged sending photos and videos and told investigators the two discussed plans to have sex once he turned 18, though she said they never acted on those plans.

The Foster-Glocester Regional School District said Crins resigned from her role at the school Oct. 1, 2025, according to WJAR.

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

File image of a woman texting. According to an affidavit, the student told investigators Crins began texting him while he was a sophomore after allegedly finding his cellphone number online. (iStock)

In a statement obtained by the outlet, the district said it is cooperating with authorities and referred further inquiries to state police.

Fox News Digital has reached out to state police for comment.

Advertisement

Related Article

Teacher pleads guilty to sexually abusing 15-year-old student weeks after giving birth: report

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe

Published

on

When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe


Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.


Born and raised in Southie, Heather Foley has seen her neighborhood morph over the past three decades of scrubbing, renovation, and new construction for higher-income new arrivals.

But even Foley was surprised to discover that her South Boston, where kids once went to the corner to buy milk and cigarettes for parents, has emerged with the city’s second-highest average income, even ahead of Charlestown and Beacon Hill.

Her first thought?: “I gotta start being nicer to my neighbors if that’s the kind of money they’re making.”

Advertisement

What’s a household?

Decades ago, when “Good Will Hunting” was filmed in the neighborhood and Southie was known as a working-class area, there were more kids around and maybe just a single breadwinner in some homes.

Since then, Southie saw more two-earner households, fewer kids, and spiffier rental units where three or four roommates could contribute to a “household.” The changes, along with spillover from the adjacent, pricier Seaport, or South Boston waterfront, are factors in Census data showing more than 40 percent of Southie households earn more than $200,000 a year.

Staying put

Foley, 46, a photo shoot producer, considers herself lucky. She didn’t move out to the South Shore like many neighborhood longtimers. She’s living in a family home on a block with residents — oldtimers and newer arrivals — who aren’t flipping properties for big bucks.

Advertisement

Another blessing, particularly valuable this winter? She has a driveway.

As a kid, she went to church and school at Gate of Heaven, St. Brigid, and St. Peter, and jokes that she’s “so sad I didn’t buy a three-decker with my First Communion money, because I probably could have.”

Waves of gentrification

She remembers the earlier waves of newcomers, when glassy sports bars like Stats Bar & Grille muscled in among longtime restaurants like Amrheins.

But now, even the popular Stats is moving out at the end of the month. The property owner is developing a five-story, mixed-use residential building at the site.

Advertisement

A small silver lining

Foley notes that some of the onetime “newcomers” have been here for three decades — and in some ways, have stabilized the place. Many have raised kids, who, like her son, may return to the neighborhood as young adults (albeit splitting a rented apartment with friends). Stats, the sports bar, says it will also return to the neighborhood’s thriving food scene.

“We have a lot of great restaurants now,” Foley says, “and everyone cleans up after their dog.”

Read: These maps show Boston’s wealthiest and most populous neighborhoods — plus other key trends.


🧩 6 Across: More scarce | 🌧️ 42° Another storm

Advertisement

Grand New Party: How do you build a statewide slate of Republicans in a Democratic state? Nearly half of the Mass. GOP candidates didn’t use to be Republicans.

Farewell advice: After nearly 15 years of health system leadership, the departing CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health offers this advice to others.

Hitting the brakes? After an ambitious state law, Lexington welcomed a wave of new housing. Now, people there are having second thoughts.

Hyde Park fatal bus crash: The driver has been indicted.

Patriots, strippers, and hookahs: A downtown restaurant’s liquor license is in jeopardy after it allegedly hosted Patriots players and guests after their AFC Championship in January. A decision is expected today.

Advertisement

‘Culture of secrecy’: In a scathing report, R.I. authorities accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of decades of “inaction, concealment, and revictimization” in complaints of clergy sexual abuse of hundreds of children.

Centers of suffering, campaigning: Federal immigration facilities have become backdrops for Democratic politicians seeking to fight President Trump’s immigration policies.

‘The best time to remember God’: Amid crackdowns, the Somali community leans into faith during Ramadan.

When is a reno worth it? Here’s how to judge the return on a home investment.


TED — TV fun in the 1990s, Framingham. Pictured, from left: Max Burkholder as John, Seth MacFarlane as the voice of Ted, Scott Grimes as Matty.Peacock

🧸 ‘Ted’ talk: Seth MacFarlane and the “Ted” cast talk Massholes, potty-mouthed teddy bears, and why Boston may have “the worst accent”

Advertisement

🩰 A ‘Black Swan’ premiere: That’s among 30 sparkling arts events happening this spring around New England. Plus, why are more artists being banned from America?

🎥 Quiz: Test yourself with the Globe’s Academy Awards quiz.

⚽ Will $7.8 million stop the World Cup from coming here? Can Foxborough’s insistence on up-front security payments force the world’s soccer governing body to send matches somewhere else this summer?

♯ Teenage dreams: The future rock stars were teenagers when they wrote songs, influenced by David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, about a fictional nightclub. A half-century later, Squeeze has reworked and is releasing those songs.

💻 Death by chatbot? A new lawsuit alleges Google’s chatbot sent a man on missions to find an android body it could inhabit. When that failed, it set a suicide countdown clock for him. (WSJ)

Advertisement

🍕 And a red cup, please: Fans are tracking down the few Pizza Hut Classic red-roofed restaurants that remain in the 6,200-store chain. (NYT)


Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Heather Ciras and produced by Ryan Orlecki.

❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.

Advertisement

📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.


Dave Beard can be reached at dave.beard@gmail.com. Follow him on X @dabeard.





Source link

Continue Reading

Pittsburg, PA

As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last

Published

on

As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last






Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending