Some good news on the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing mega church front . . .

[gardenmom5]

A plumber found $600,000 cash and checks in small bags in the walls of his home.  Police tied it to the "heist" of his church.

We shouldn't be hearing about him for too much longer.

 

[SKL]

The article doesn't say home, it says the money was found on church property.  Not clear from the article who is suspected of stuffing it in the church walls 7 years ago.

[gardenmom5]

50 minutes ago, SKL said:

The article doesn't say home, it says the money was found on church property.  Not clear from the article who is suspected of stuffing it in the church walls 7 years ago.

I missed that.  I would expect it was him. . . . . hiding it until the statue of limitations runs out.  There have been enough crime dramas where that has been a thing.

[El...]

Wait. What? 7 years ago, somebody reported a theft of donations? And now some of that missing money/traceable checks has been found in a wall?? 

Well, who did that? How did they have open access to the inside of a wall seven years ago? I wouldn't assume the pastor himself counts the tithe buckets, at least in my churches. It's usually certain people, in groups.

I'm no fan of Osteen, but I don't see how the things in that article point to him particularly. I don't think it's going to be easy to resolve. Interesting!

[MEmama]

The perfect plot for an episode of the Righteous Gemstones. 🤣

 

[DawnM]

Why aren't the checks cashed?   I can't imagine you can cash 6 year old checks.   I found a couple of checks once that I had forgotten to cash and they were only 2 years old and I couldn't cash them anymore and had to call to get them reissued.

[DawnM]

1 hour ago, elroisees said:

Wait. What? 7 years ago, somebody reported a theft of donations? And now some of that missing money/traceable checks has been found in a wall?? 

Well, who did that? How did they have open access to the inside of a wall seven years ago? I wouldn't assume the pastor himself counts the tithe buckets, at least in my churches. It's usually certain people, in groups.

I'm no fan of Osteen, but I don't see how the things in that article point to him particularly. I don't think it's going to be easy to resolve. Interesting!

I wouldn't assume the pastor either.   Maybe a staff member?  Heck, maybe the last plumber who worked on that toilet.

[El...]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

Why aren't the checks cashed?   I can't imagine you can cash 6 year old checks.   I found a couple of checks once that I had forgotten to cash and they were only 2 years old and I couldn't cash them anymore and had to call to get them reissued.

Maybe the cash was taken and the checks left because they weren't quickly fungible. I'd guess whoever stole the offering didn't have the rights/bank access to cash the checks. 

[livetoread]

Much as I have strong negative feelings towards that pastor, I doubt it was him. It's chump change for him given the millions people throw at him legitimately, and while that doesn't mean he isn't greedy for more, I still doubt it. It's an interesting mystery though. 

[DawnM]

5 hours ago, elroisees said:

Maybe the cash was taken and the checks left because they weren't quickly fungible. I'd guess whoever stole the offering didn't have the rights/bank access to cash the checks. 

But there is cash there too.   

[El...]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

But there is cash there too.   

This is all so strange!!!

[scbusf]

It’s so strange! My DH suggested that maybe someone stole it back in 2014, hid it all, intending to come back and get it, but never did. Then I asked, but how and why inside the wall behind a toilet? He didn’t have an answer for that one. 

[Junie]

1 hour ago, scbusf said:

It’s so strange! My DH suggested that maybe someone stole it back in 2014, hid it all, intending to come back and get it, but never did. Then I asked, but how and why inside the wall behind a toilet? He didn’t have an answer for that one. 

This is what I think happened as well.  And I would guess that the person snuck the money into the bathroom during the service, closed the stall door, and hid the money, fully intending to come back some other time to retrieve it.

[kbutton]

[kbutton]

[City Mouse]

While I too an not a big fan of Osteen or his church, I would imagine that $600,000 is a drop in the bucket of his yearly income and would not suspect that he had anything to do with handing the stuff in the walls. Also, I have been in that building many times long before Osteen took it over. It is so huge that it would be easy for an employee or even a member of the public to hid something like that. I would imagine that there are plenty of not-open-to-the-public corridors all over that thing.