Plumber finds cash, checks behind loose toilet in wall at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church
Envelopes full of cash and checks were found behind a loose toilet by a plumber doing repairs at celebrity televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Texas, according to church officials.
The plumber detailed the bizarre discovery, made on Nov. 10 at the Houston megachurch, on the morning show of 100.3 The Bull, a country music radio station in the city.
“There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” the caller said, NBC affiliate KPRC reported. “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!’”
The plumber then contacted the maintenance supervisor and turned the envelopes here.
It’s not clear how much money was in those envelopes.
A representative from the church acknowledged the 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," the representative said to KPRC.
The money mystery comes after $600,000 in checks and cash disappeared from the church’s safe in 2014, the Houston Chronicle reported. No arrests were made in the case, and the Houston Police Department's investigation remains open.
