‘Bling bishop’ Lamor Whitehead’s fraud and extortion trial begins: ‘Fighting charges like Rocky’

Brooklyn pastor Lamor Whitehead will be “fighting the charges like Rocky Balboa” during his trial for wire fraud, extortion, and other alleged crimes, the flashy preacher’s attorney said during opening statements Monday.

Dressed in an unusually muted navy suit in Manhattan federal court, Whitehead, 44, listened as defense attorney Dawn Florio told jurors the government had “not met the burden of proof” to bring the pastor to court.

“Pay attention to lack of evidence,” Florio said, dressed in a bright white suit herself, long eyelashes, and striking makeup.

Whitehead — known for wearing ostentatious jewelry, bold eyewear, and flamboyant suits to both court and church — declined to comment while leaving the courthouse Monday, but laughed when asked by The Post what designer he was wearing.

He is accused of a numbers of crimes, including faking bank records in an attempt to secure loans to fund his $1.3 million New Jersey mansion, scamming the elderly mother of a parishioner out of $90,000 to blow on luxury goods, and leveraging his friendship with Mayor Eric Adams to extort cash in return for “favorable actions” in real estate deals.

The money to fund the pastor’s ritzy lifestyle and attire came from “other sources of income,” Florio said.

But prosecutors, during their opening statements, called Whitehead a “conman who told lie after lie to victim after victim.”

The church leader claimed to be a “friend of the mayor of New York City,” prosecutor Jessica Greenwood said, but in reality he “abused the trust” of his parishioners to fund his “extravagant lifestyle.”

“[Whitehead] lied, cheated and stole to keep up a wealthy appearance,” Greenwood said, adding that he “used lies and threats to get money from his victims and when lies caught up to him he lied to the FBI.”

Charges were first filed against Whitehead in 2022. Greenwood said that during a search after his arrest he lied to federal agents about how many phones he owned.

He is accused of defrauding two people, including Pauline Anderson, the mother of parishioner Rasheed Anderson. Whitehead allegedly told her that if she gave him $90,000 he would use it to buy her a new home and fix it up for her.

Instead, prosecutors alleged he burned the cash at Louis Vuitton, Footlocker, Grubhub, and on payments for a BMW.

Florio denied those charges outright, saying prosecutors had their facts wrong.

“It was Rasheed Anderson who promised to buy his mother the house,” she said.

Other charges stem from an alleged 2018 scheme to obtain a fraudulent $250,000 loan for his Paramus mansion, wherein the preacher was accused of fabricating documents to make it appear an LLC he owned had millions in its coffers when in reality it had just $6.

He is also accused of taking thousands of dollars from a Bronx body shop owner in exchange for promises to obtain “official favors” from Mayor Adams, who Whitehead said would “do whatever I wanted.”

Whitehead’s eccentric style and antics have long drawn him attention in the Big Apple, and he made headlines in 2022 when his Brooklyn congregation —  the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie — was robbed at gunpoint during a livestreamed sermon.

The thieves made off with millions in jewelry during the heist, with one later pleading guilty in November as Whitehead looked on.

He is known for preaching a “prosperity gospel” at the church, where he asks followers to “sow” by donating money to the church.