Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church Robbed; $600,000 in Donations Stolen From Safe
Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, was robbed of $600,000 in donations over the weekend.
"We were heartbroken to learn today that funds were stolen from the church over the weekend. This includes cash, checks and envelopes containing written credit card information, and it is limited only to those funds contributed in the church services on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, 2014," Lakewood told the 45,000-strong congregation, the biggest in America, in a statement on Monday.
FOX 26 reported that Houston police are currently looking for clues on who might have broken into the church safe. The crime was discovered early Monday morning by a Lakewood employee. Around $200,000 of the stolen money is believed to be in cash, while the rest included donations made by checks and credit cards.
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The Houston megachurch advised people who made contributions over the weekend service to pay close attention to their bank accounts in the coming days and weeks, and to report immediately any suspicious activity.
"It is important to note this was not an electronic data breach, but was instead limited to donations made in the services on March 8 and 9, 2014. You were not affected if you put your offering in a drop box, you gave online or through other electronic means, or you made a bookstore purchase," Lakewood noted. "We are working with the police to fully investigate the incident. The funds were fully insured, and we are working with our insurance company to restore the stolen funds to the church."
