Plumber reportedly finds cash in wall of Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church

Last month, while making repairs at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, a plumber found around 500 envelopes in a wall of the church.

On Thursday, during a radio segment of 100.3 The Bull, the host, George Lindsey, asked listeners to call in and share some of the craziest things that have ever happened to them. One caller, who said his name was Justin, said he was a plumber doing repairs at the megachurch on November 10.

“There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” Justin said. “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 told Lindsey that the envelopes contained cash and checks and that he had turned them in to the church’s maintenance supervisor. “We were like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Lindsey said later, recounting the call. “So, then he relayed to us that in 2014 there was a big story about money being stolen from Lakewood Church that they never recovered.”

In 2014, $600,000 was stolen from the church and the investigation from the Houston Police Department has been ongoing. At one point, there was even a $25,000 reward for tipsters, but the statute of limitations on it has reportedly ended.

The church released a statement regarding the find: “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.” It is believed that the two events are related.