Authorities in Houston confirmed Friday that a series of checks and cash found by a plumber in the wall of megachurch pastor Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church are connected to a 2014 heist when $600,000 went missing.
The Houston Police Department (HPD) posted a statement about the investigation, launched after a plumber who worked at the church called into a Houston radio morning show on 100.3 The Bull to tell them about his shocking discovery.
'Evidence from the recovered checks suggests this November case is connected to a March 9, 2014 theft report of undisclosed amounts of money at the church,' the HPD said.
The revelation comes seven years after about $600,000 in donations was stolen and haven't been recovered.
Police said that they were called to the church for a report of property discovered in the building on November 10 at about 2:30pm.
They claimed church members told them during a renovation project, the money was found inside a wall.
'Burglary and theft officers responded and began investigating,' the statement read. 'An undisclosed amount of money was inventoried, documented and left in the custody of Lakewood Church since it was property found on the premises.'
They confirmed that the money is connected to the 2014 heist and added the investigation is ongoing.
The plumber, who only gave his first name, Justin, detailed what he found in the wall to the radio show Thursday morning.
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