Church Credit Cards, Luxury Watches and a $2.9 Million Tax Loss: A Jamaica-Born Pastor Pleads Guilty in New York

• Paul Mitchell, a 60-year-old Jamaica-born pastor, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion
• He led Changing Lives Christian Centre in East New York, Brooklyn, and headed its daycare
• He used church credit cards and cheques for personal spending from 2015 to 2022, the Gleaner reported
• The tax loss was put at about $2.9 million federally and about $316,699 to New York State

In December 2025 the Gleaner reported that a Jamaica-born pastor in New York had pleaded guilty in a tax evasion case built on how he handled church money. Paul Mitchell, 60, was pastor of Changing Lives Christian Centre in the East New York section of Brooklyn and president of the church’s educational daycare. He lives in West Hempstead on Long Island.

According to the report, between 2015 and 2022 Mitchell used the organisations’ credit cards to pay for personal expenses, including men’s clothing, thousands of dollars in jewellery, luxury watches and life insurance premiums. He also wrote church cheques to pay his personal credit card bills and income taxes, withdrew large amounts of cash, and transferred funds to his personal accounts without reporting them as income.

The resulting tax loss was estimated at about $2.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service and about $316,699 to New York State. Mitchell pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion. The case was set to return to court on June 3, and he faced a maximum of five years in prison, restitution and fines of up to $250,000.

The case turns on a simple failure of control: when the same person leads a church, runs its affiliated organisations and can spend its money, there may be nothing to separate church funds from personal ones. Tax authorities treat money taken from a church for private use as income, whatever it is called on the cheque stub.

For Jamaican congregations in the diaspora, and for churches at home that are growing their property, schools and daycares, the lesson is practical. Separate signing authority, regular independent audits and clear rules on credit cards protect both the ministry and its leaders. Church members who tithe or give to building funds are entitled to know that the money is going where it was promised, and a church’s standing in its community, and with lenders and landlords, depends on it.

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