NEW YORK, United States (CMC) – A Jamaican-born pastor at a church in Brooklyn, New York, has pleaded guilty in US federal court to a tax evasion scheme.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) said that Paul Mitchell, 60, the lead pastor of Changing Lives Christian Centre in the East New York section of Brooklyn and president of the church’s educational daycare, pleaded guilty to “a criminal information charging him with one count of tax evasion.”

According to court filings, Mitchell, who resides in West Hempstead, Long Island, New York, was the founder of both the church and the educational daycare centre.

The DOJ said that, between 2015 and 2022, “Mitchell used the organisations’ credit cards to pay for his personal expenses, including men’s clothing, thousands of dollars in jewellery, luxury watches, and life insurance premiums.”

Pastor Mitchell also wrote checks from the church’s bank accounts to pay his own credit card bills and personal income taxes.

“As part of the scheme, Mitchell frequently withdrew large amounts of cash from bank accounts for the church and the daycare and transferred funds from those accounts into his own bank accounts,” the DOJ said.

“He failed to report his use of the stolen funds as income on his personal income tax returns, which significantly reduced his tax burden and allowed him to evade the payment of personal income taxes,” it added.

As a result of his conduct, the DOJ said Mitchell “caused a tax loss” of about US$2,906,072 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and about US $316,699 to New York State between 2015 and 2022.

The DOJ said Mitchell faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, restitution, and fines of up to US$250,000.

Changing Lives Christian Centre says on its website that Mitchell is the senior pastor and visionary for the church.

“Pastor Mitchell believes that, as human beings, we have a responsibility to empower one another,” it says. “He believes that the human spirit, which houses the purpose for which we’ve all been created, must be nurtured, both naturally and spiritually.

“He believes that everyone is intrinsically designed with a gift that has the power to propel them into their destiny,” it adds.

Changing Lives Christian Centre says that Pastor Mitchell was born in Kingston, Jamaica, the sixth of seven sons to Alfred and Myrtle Mitchell.

In 1971, it says the Mitchell family migrated to the United States.

Changing Lives Christian Centre says that Pastor Mitchell was a successful banker for over 14 years.

“Working with well-known banks like Chase, First Card and EAB helped to prepare him for the leadership role that he now holds today, naturally and spiritually,” it says, stating that, on January 1, 2003, “Pastor Mitchell was called to a new role.

“He transitioned from banker to pastor, seemingly effortlessly,” the church adds.

“Pastor Mitchell is a man of integrity and uprightness,” it continues. “He’s a giver of himself. Most importantly, he is a man of God that seeks to honour and obey God in all his ways.”