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A Florida pastor, Evan Edwards, and his son, Josh, were arrested on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, for fraudulently obtaining more than $8 million in federal Covid relief funds. They were also charged for using a portion of that fund to buy a luxury home near Walt Disney World. The family purchased a luxury home in Golden Oak, a Four Seasons Private Residence, for $3.7 million.
The pastor and the son are originally from Canada and are currently facing charges that include conspiracy to commit bank fraud and visa fraud.
The fraud came to light after federal prosecutors alleged that at the beginning of April 2020, the father and the son, along with the rest of the family, submitted a fraudulent loan application to a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in the name of ASLAN International Ministry, which was approved by the authorities.
As per the complaint, the funds were then transferred to the family's various bank accounts to conceal their whereabouts. It is also reported that the feds had forced the family to return the money in 2020 but finally arrested the father-son duo earlier this month.
After doing missionary work in Turkey, pastor and the family moved to Florida in 2019, just before committing the fraud
After the fraud came to light, federal agents in September 2020 attempted to search the Golden Oak home, which had been bought by the family using the fraudulently obtained amount.
However, the agents found it empty. Later, the family was caught in their Mercedes SUV, which had bags of shredded paper, tons of financial records, and a few electronic devices that were used to block radio frequencies and prevent tracking.
The pastor and the family were taken into custody, but they were released the next day, and the case was dismissed. However, in April 2021, another judge ordered that the $8.4 million the family fraudulently received and used should be immediately forfeited. However, the pastor did not comply with the authorities.
A popular media house, NBC News, reported the details of the scam and how the family covered up the entire incident. Later, pastor Evan and his son Joshua Edwards were taken into custody five months after the news bulletin was made live. NBC's report also claimed that the father and son collected funds to support the Aslan International Ministry, Inc.
Additionally, the PPP loan application mentioned that ASLAN International had 486 employees and average monthly payroll expenses of $2.7 million. However, the number of employees and expenses claimed did not match the original figures.
The neighbors, who were recently interviewed, said:
"I'm glad they got arrested. It's a long time coming."
As per the complaint, $3.7 million were used to purchase a mansion, as stated, and the remaining millions were hidden across multiple banks held in the pastor's name.
