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In Texas, a plumber discovered $600,000 in cash and checks hidden inside a bathroom wall.
The money was kept inside nearly 500 envelopes at the Lakewood Church in Houston where Joel Osteen is the pastor.
“There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile,” the plumber told reporters.
“Went to go remove the toilet and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall,” he said. “I was like ‘Oh wow.’ I got my flashlight, shined up in there.”
“I went ahead and contacted the maintenance supervisor that was there, and I turned it all in,” he said.
Authorities have revealed that back in March 2014, the Lakewood Church reported that $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks had been stolen.
Credit card information was also stolen.
“Lakewood immediately notified the Houston Police Department and is assisting them with their investigation,” the church explained.
From Fox News:
At the time, the church said the missing money had been insured. Since then, no arrests have been made in relation to the theft.
Lakewood Church said in a statement that cash and checks were discovered recently during work being done on the church, but did not add how much money was found and did not directly confirm what the plumber said.
Houston police said in a statement Friday that officers were dispatched to the church after the discovery was made.
Police claim that the recovered checks suggest that the money found in envelopes is related to the 2014 theft.
