The plumber who unearthed thousands of dollars while doing a repair at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church will receive a $20,000 reward.
On Tuesday, Crime Stoppers of Houston announced that the plumber, Justin, would receive the reward money initially put up for information about the church’s 2014 robbery. That $600,000 robbery has remained unsolved. However, the Houston Police Department has verified that checks found by Justin have been linked to the theft.
The news comes just one day after Justin publicly slammed Osteen for failing to thank him during his Sunday sermon.
“I wanted to hear [Joel Osteen] say, ‘You know, Justin, what you did was right. We understand what you did and what you could have done,'” the plumber stated.
In a statement, Lakewood Church confirmed that they’d put up the reward money to help solve their massive robbery but donated it to Crime Stoppers in 2016 once the statute of limitations expired.
Crime Stoppers of Houston CEO Rania Mankarious said that while the organization doesn’t usually give rewards for locating stolen property, they agreed that Justin is a “good Samaritan” who should be given the money for doing the right thing.
Joel Osteen has not addressed the eyebrow-raising discovery. On Friday, HPD said that the undisclosed amount of cash, money orders, and checks was recorded and then left with the church. A Lakewood Church spokeswoman confirmed that the money was insured and the matter had been reconciled with the insurance company.
There is still no word on how money from the robbery ended up in the walls behind a loose toilet.
