Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen is questioned after plumber finds 'bags and bags' of cash and checks stashed in 500 envelopes in bathroom wall - seven years after $600,000 in donations were stolen from the church
- Joel Osteen was questioned by police after 'bags and bags' of cash and checks were found in a bathroom wall by a plumber working at Lakewood Church
- A plumber named Justin, who was called to the church on November 10, removed some insulation and found about 500 envelopes of money
- He was held at the church for seven hours as Houston police began investigating the situation
- The discovery comes seven years after $600,000 worth of donations were stolen from the church, which is the biggest in the country
Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen has been questioned by police after 'bags and bags' of cash and checks were found in about 500 envelopes in a bathroom wall at Lakewood Church in Texas.
A plumber who worked at the church and only gave his first name, Justin, called into a Houston radio morning 100.3 The Bull show to tell them about his shocking discovery, which comes seven years after about $600,000 in donations was stolen and hasn't been recovered.
Justin was called in to America's largest church, Lakewood Church, on November 10 to fix a broken toilet, he said.
'There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,' he explained during the call Thursday morning. 'We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall, and I was like 'Oh wow!''
He said hundreds of envelopes were filled with cash and checks. Houston police confirmed to DailyMail.com that cash and checks were found in the wall, and that they talked to 'everybody associated with the building' they were able to contact.
In 2014, $600,000 worth of donations were stolen from the church. The amount was just a portion of donations made from one weekend of services and it has never been found.
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Televangelist and megachurch pastor Joel Osteen was questioned by police after 'bags and bags' of cash and checks were found in a bathroom wall at his Houston church
A plumber made the discovery while working on a loose toilet at the church on November 10
Justin told the radio show that he informed the church's supervisors and was made to wait at the church for almost seven hours after his discovery.
'Recently, while repair work was being done at Lakewood Church, an undisclosed amount of cash and checks were found. Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation.
'Lakewood has no further comment at this time,' a spokesperson for the church told DailyMail.com.
Houston police would not comment on the case.
In 2014, an employee had discovered the break-in on the Monday morning following Lent.
In addition to cash, the burglars took Lakewood Church's checks and deposit slips that listed parishioners' credit card information. About $600,000 was stolen.
Crime Stoppers offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest at the time, but no arrest were ever made.
Donation funds are fully insured, so Lakewood Church did not lose out on the money at the time - but it has never been found.
At the time, the Houston church has a weekly attendance of about 43,500 parishioners.
Lakewood now welcomes about 52,000 attendees across multiple services per week, and its services are streamed worldwide, as Osteen proselytizes about the word of God and spreads the prosperity gospel - which teaches that wealth is a sign of God's favor.
Osteen, 58, the televangelist megachurch pastor, is estimated to be worth $50 million. He is often criticized for preaching that wealth is a sign of God's favor. The controversial celebrity pastor recently returned $4.4 million in federal COVID relief loans his megachurch received from the government.
The shocking discovery was made seven years after $600,000 was stolen from the church
Osteen is often criticized for his teaching that wealth is a sign of God's favor. He is estimated to be worth $50 million
Osteen is often criticized for sermons which teach that wealth is a sign of God's favor (Pictured: Osteen's mansion in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston)
According to the Houston Chronicle, Osteen's Lakewood Church repaid the money after the stadium-sized facility was widely-condemned for accepting the cash in 2020.
A spokesman claimed at that time that they needed the loan because the church - which can 16,800 worshippers at one time - was unable to take weekly collections during COVID closures ,which it says helps pay its 368 staff.
But that sparked an outcry, as details of Osteen's extreme wealth were once again shared.
His most recent address is listed as a six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion in Houston's River Oaks neighborhood worth an estimated $15 million.
It has also been revealed that Osteen owns a Ferrari, which cost more than $300,000.
During the pandemic, he appeared on the Today Show urging people not to 'focus on what [they] have or don't have,' the Daily Beast reported at the time.
The apparent hypocrisy drove some people on social media to complain about the church's federal loan - the third highest handed out in Houston in July and August 2020, according to the Houston Business Journal.
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