“The megachurch run by Joel Osteen, the famed pastor who preaches humility and drives a Ferrari, has returned $4.4 million in pandemic loans.  Osteen caught flack last December after it was revealed that his church had taken out loans from the Paycheck Protection Program for COVID-19 relief, meant for small businesses” New York Daily News reports.

“His Lakewood Church in Houston used the funds to keep 368 employees afloat during the coronavirus lockdown, the institution said in a statement to KPRC-TV in December.  The loans are meant for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, but the coronavirus funds were distinguished by the number of religious institutions that took advantage of the funds. In Texas alone, more than 1,000 religious groups got money from the federal program, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported last December.”

“Osteen himself is worth a reported $100 million, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Osteen has said he makes his money off speaking engagements and his best-selling books, which have netted him upwards of $55 million a year. He forgoes the $200,000 salary he’s entitled to as Lakewood’s pastor.  A Lakewood spokesman has provided bank statements showing that the loan had been fully repaid, The Daily Beast reported. PPP loans did not have to be paid back if a company used it to keep all its employees on full payroll and to pay expenses such as mortgages.”