A plumber who found envelopes of money stashed in a wall at Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch has received a $20,000 Crime Stoppers reward for the find.
The plumber, identified as Justin, made the discovery when he was removing a toilet in the bathroom of Lakewood Church on Nov. 10, according to local reports.
Houston police were notified and said in a statement that “evidence recovered from the checks” suggests the stashed loot was connected to a March 2014 theft at the church.
In the robbery, $600,000 was stolen from the church safe, KRPC Channel 2 reported.
Following the crime, the church gave Crime Stoppers $20,000 to help solve the case, KTRK reported.
Two years later, with the case still unsolved, the church decided to switch the $20,000 incentive into a charitable donation to Crime Stoppers.
As a result of the latest developments, “we are gifting that same amount of money to this Good Samaritan and wishing he and his family a wonderful holiday season,” Crime Stoppers CEO Rania Mankarious told KTRK.
Police said the plumber found checks and money orders along with the cash stashed in the church’s walls. (NYPost)