Seven years after $600,000 in donations went missing from Lakewood Church, a plumber who was sent to fix a broken toilet at the church discovered hundreds of envelopes stuffed with cash and checks in the walls. Joel Osteen, the lead pastor at Lakewood Church and a famous televangelist, is being questioned by police in connection to the missing donations. The Daily Mail Reports–
“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.”
Joel Osteen reportedly has a net worth of roughly $50 million. Lakewood Church received $4.4 million in covid relief after they claimed that being unable to collect money from churchgoers prevented them from paying their 368 employees.
Osteen is a proponent of prosperity gospel, which teaches that wealth can be achieved through prayer and is a sign of gods favor.