Lakewood Church, helmed by televangelist Joel Osteen, announced that over the weekend $600,000 was stolen from its safe.
Authorities are investigating the robbery which was discovered by a church employee and an off duty cop that served as security for the church. Police spokesman Kese Smith say that “$200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks were stolen from a safe sometime between 2:30 p.m. Sunday and 8:30 a.m. Monday.”
“We are working with the police to fully investigate the incident,” the statement reads. “The funds were fully insured, and we are working with our insurance company to restore the stolen funds to the church.”
The missing cash, checks and credit card information were collected during March 8 and March 9 services. Included with the missing checks are some member’s written credit card information but a church spokesman said this is not an electronic data breach. Online deposits were not affected
The church is encouraging those to monitor their accounts and report any suspicious activity to their bank accounts.
No arrests have been made, said Smith.
Lakewood Church in Houston has one of the country’s largest congregations with over 40,000 people attending weekly and televised services in nearly 100 countries.