Plumber Justin Cauley discovers the long-lost $600,000 stolen money inside the wall of the church owned by Joel Osteen.
Justin Cauley, a plumber of the church-owned by Joel Osteen’s, has found the discovery 7 years after the devastating cash worth $600,000 was stolen from the secure safe at the church.
Cauley phoned a radio show on 100.3 The Bull, to talk about how some 500 envelopes fell out of a wall behind a loose toilet in the church, Click2Houston has reported.
He caught the attention of Crime Stoppers Houston, who for several years had been offering a $25,000 reward to anyone who could help solve a $600,000 theft reported by the church in 2014, after calling to the local station to report his discovery.
According to the caller, he discovered the envelope while he was doing repair work at the mega-chapel on Nov. 10, 2021.
The caller said: “There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile. 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 envelopes reportedly contained cash and checks inside, but the total amount of money found remains unclear, “I went ahead and contacted the maintenance supervisor that was there, and I turned it all in,” he added.
The Houston Police Department confirmed in a statement that officers were called to the church after “church members stated that during a renovation project, a large amount of money – including cash, checks and money orders – was found inside a wall.”
George Lindsey, the show’s host, was taken aback upon hearing the plumber’s story. He said: “We were like, What are you talking about? 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, the church made headlines after $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks vanished from its safe.point 232 |
At that time, Crimestoppers even offered a reward of $25,000 for any piece of information that would lead to the arrest of a suspect.point 110 | However, no arrests were made, and the Houston Police Department is still investigating the incident.point 197 | 1
If the shocking discovery behind the bathroom wall is found to be connected with the theft, it could provide a new direction to the seven-year-old case.
The $600,000 was stolen from a portion of donations made on one weekend of services, which an employee discovered the Monday after Lent. In addition to cash, the thieves took Lakewood Church’s checks and deposit slips that listed parishioners’ credit card information.
Lindsey said: “Don’t you want to know what happened, I mean they stole the money, but they didn’t get it out of the wall. Did they have an accident; you know what I mean? It’s like, why did they never go back? If it’s that money, why did they never go back?”
It is led by Osteen, 58, an American televangelist, theologian, speaker, and author who entice a large number of followers with his “simple and positive” sermons. He is estimated to be worth $50 million.
He is often criticized for preaching that wealth is a sign of God’s favor. The controversial celebrity pastor recently returned $4.4 million in federal COVID relief loans his megachurch received from the government.
Though the statute of limitations for the case had expired, the non-profit said it felt obliged to reward Cauley, with the help of the Houston Police Department saying they believe the find was indeed linked to the 2014 burglary case.
Crime Stoppers of Houston reached out to offer Cauley a $20,000 reward. Cauley shared: “My heart stopped, needless to say. I had no clue that that call would come about. Bills are stacking up, work is starting to get slow … This money is gonna help tremendously. It’s a bit of a blessing.”
Rania Makarios, Crime Stoppers CEO said: “When we heard that Justin the plumber of the church made the discovery and immediately reported to the supervisor and law enforcement, it dawned on me that the unique gift from Lakewood Church should go to him.”
In a statement, Lakewood Church spokesperson Jami Schleicher said, “we are appreciative of the plumber and we hope he pays the gift forward.”
Lakewood, which is the biggest church in the U.S., now welcomes about 52,000 attendees across multiple services per week, and its services are streamed worldwide.