Multimillionaire Joel Osteen Dragged After Church Received $4.4 Million In COVID-19 PPP Loans

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Multimillionaire televangelist Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Texas pocketed $4.4 million in bailouts through the federal government’s COVID-19 relief program aimed at helping small businesses stay afloat during the prolonged shutdown earlier this year, records show.

The Houston megachurch, the largest in the nation with 52,000 weekly congregants, received the forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loan in late July, the Houston Business Journal reported Sunday.

According to federal data reviewed by the Houston Business Journal, Lakewood’s loan was the third-highest in the Houston area during all of July and August.

The megachurch’s PPP check went to 368 full and part-time employees, spokesman Donald Iloff told the news outlet.

Iloff said in-person services that were suspended

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