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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
UK Daily Mail ^ | 12/03/2021 | Adriana Diaz

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 ...


TOPICS: US: Texas
KEYWORDS: houston; joelosteen; lakewood; megachurch; osteen; osteenisacriminal
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To: DFG

Someone posted this story from the Babylon Bee


81 posted on 12/03/2021 2:08:32 PM PST by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: DFG

Sounds malicious. Why would anyone stash checks in the wall. It’s not like there would be any expectation that they could be cashed later.


82 posted on 12/03/2021 2:43:20 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: enraged

The value of FR....good ideas.

Your idea and the suggestion that it might have been dropped from above my removing a section of ceiling are both more likely than what I envisioned.


83 posted on 12/03/2021 2:43:50 PM PST by old curmudgeon (There is no situation so bad that the federal government can not make worse.)
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To: rxsid

Not bad.


84 posted on 12/03/2021 2:47:09 PM PST by HandyDandy
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To: DFG

Praise the Lord!


85 posted on 12/03/2021 2:48:19 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: DFG

I think the consensus of the thread is the Olsteen not this dumb of a crook…


86 posted on 12/03/2021 4:10:33 PM PST by GreenLanternCorps (Hi! I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts! (TM) Atsk about franchise opportunities in your area.)
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To: Leaning Right

My initial reaction after the slanted headlines is the the Osteen’s were victims of criminals who stole from them.

Probably hid the loot and were going to come back but couldn’t.
That shouldn’t make Joel Osteen look bad. Just my initial opinion based on not many facts.

TV detective type of line about him would be “If he were embezzling money from his own church, why would he hide it in a place that he uses-—his own church bathroom? Why not a far away place or a transit station locker?”


87 posted on 12/03/2021 4:34:43 PM PST by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: Cboldt
The plumber framed him ....

His alibi story was leaky. Police will have to flush more evidence out of this.

88 posted on 12/03/2021 4:37:01 PM PST by frank ballenger (You have summoned up a thundercloud. You're gonna hear from me. Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
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To: enraged

Maybe a janitor’s closet. The back wall of plumbed fixtures is often accessible that way. I didn’t find out until decades later that the medicine cabinets in our Air Force dorms could be removed, and a dead space accessed.


89 posted on 12/03/2021 4:44:10 PM PST by gundog ( It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )
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To: Ezekiel

This brings back some unpleasant memories.

Great Aunt Marjorie, a accomplished, published writer and poet lived alone. She watched the evil Televangelist Jim Bakker and donated all her wealth to him.

She died a pauper. Family pitched in for her burial, so she wouldn’t end up in a pauper’s grave.

After she passed, [age 87] her check books were found with all her donations to Bakker recorded.

It was a sad ending to a fascinating life. I hope there is a place in hell for the Bakkers.


90 posted on 12/03/2021 6:45:13 PM PST by Daffynition (*This admin tells us *A* story; but they don't tell us *THE* story* & :) ~ D Bongino)
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To: AppyPappy

maybe insurance would pay....


91 posted on 12/03/2021 7:21:16 PM PST by YouGoTexasGirl ( )
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To: DFG

I don’t think Joel would leave uncashed checks wasting away. God wants him to have that money. So he can be happy. 😆


92 posted on 12/04/2021 7:22:47 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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