Posted on 12/03/2021 8:31:52 AM PST by DFG
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
According to the article, there were 500 envelopes in the wall. Some contained checks, others contained cash. I guessing that whoever took the envelops just grabbed everything he could, with no time to see what was inside. The plan was probably to retrieve the envelopes later, go through them, keep the cash, and destroy the checks. Something happened to the thief (died?) and he was never able to come back and get the money.
(I watch a lot of reruns of "Colombo.")
Based on how the plumber described what happened (including moving some insulation out of the way), I'd say that's likely how the money found it's way into the wall. The perp intended to place it in the ceiling, to retrieve later, but some/most (all?) of it fell into the wall.
"‘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!’’"
I’d love for them to see who had access that day and then find out whose still alive. Oops. John died. Pretty good chance he the perp.
lol. You don’t say?
This is his best life now. Unless he repents.
He might have. Are we sure it was only 200K in cash? I actually hope he took some. Lol.
Leave bruddah Joel’s bathroom reading material alone!
I don’t care at all for Osteen but don’t picture him doing this.
A likely scenario, IMV, is the perp intended to stash the envelopes in the ceiling by standing on a toilet, lifting up a tile (lay-in ceiling) and placing the envelopes in the ceiling to be retrieve at a later time. Only, he shoved them towards the wall, and most of the envelopes fell into and down the wall cavity.
That scenario is a whole lot cleaner, and quicker, than someone going into the bathroom, removing the toilet and tile, cutting a hole in the wall, stashing the envelopes, placing insulation over/around the envelops, patching the wall, retiling the wall and then putting the toilet back.
Once the envelopes fell into the wall cavity, they were effectively out of reach of the perp (who, likely, isn't a "professional" thief) and removal was too big of a job / risky for them.
Agree, and agree.
Likely someone who handled the collection envelops and decided to "divert" a portion of them.
“The man with the diamond ring”
Dire Straits “Ticket to Heaven”
Dire Straits sure had these crooks figured out.
As much as I think Osteen is a phony, not seeing how this falls on him?
I would doubt Osteen took stolen bags of cash and checks and stuffed in a wall.
He would have wanted that to be deposited , especially the checks.
I know. Osteen hiding several money envelopes in a public bathroom? Not likely.
Bkmk
Like Creflo Dollar “God wants me to have that airplane”.
These people will have a “special” (not good) place in hell.
James 3:1 NIV
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Amplified Bible
Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly].
1 Timothy 6:10 NKJ (ONE TIMOTHY) as Trump would ACCURATELY state.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Amplified Bible
For the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically] is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves [through and through] with many sorrows.
Copeland soiling his dainty hands in a bathroom doesn’t seem likely.
Any bets the church calls people who wrote those checks wanting them to make good on them now?
They had an opportunity to steal the donations, then realized they would get caught. So they stuffed them in a convenient place.
I see commercials for his church every day on Houston television when my wife and I watch Jeopardy. As he has gotten older through the years, he is starting to have a “Deliverance Boy” look about him.
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