Florida pastor and son’s $8 million Covid fraud case comes to bizarre end - BERITAJA

It was 1 of the strangest Covid fraud cases brought by the Justice Department, pinch the benignant of chaotic specifications that seemed ripped from a Hollywood script.

There was an $8.4 cardinal pandemic alleviation loan based connected records purportedly signed by a dementia-stricken accountant. Bags of shredded documents were discovered successful a Mercedes SUV. Cellphones were recovered wrong pouches specially designed to artifact power frequencies to support them from being tracked. And location were allegations of faked intelligence wellness problems that recalled the notorious lawsuit of mobster Vincent “The Chin” Gigante.

At the halfway of it each was a expected man of God — a Florida-based pastor pinch an different past, who is alleged to person tally a sham ministry.

The pastor, Evan Edwards, and his son, Josh, were arrested successful precocious 2022 connected charges of fraudulently obtaining millions successful Covid alleviation assistance and trying to usage immoderate of the money to bargain a luxury location adjacent Walt Disney World.

But their lawyers struggled to pass pinch them from the start, and aggregate psychiatrists were brought successful to analyse whether they were genuinely suffering from intelligence wellness problems aliases were feigning symptoms to debar a imaginable situation term.

Josh Edwards is taken into custody extracurricular the Edwards family’s location successful New Smyrna Beach, Fla., connected Dec. 14, 2022.Obtained by Beritaja

More than 3 years later, the lawsuit has yet travel to an end.

A judge sentenced Josh Edwards, 35, to 4 years and 3 months successful situation Tuesday. Josh, a Canadian national for illustration his father, is apt to beryllium deported pursuing his situation term, his lawyer said. He had antecedently pleaded blameworthy to 2 fraud counts.

There will beryllium nary plea woody aliases sentencing for the elder Edwards. Charges against Evan were dropped successful March 2025 erstwhile it was wished that he was incompetent to guidelines trial. He was suffering from “moderate to terrible dementia and important and imperishable cognitive deficits,” arsenic good arsenic a big of beingness issues, a magistrate judge said successful tribunal papers.

Josh Edwards, connected the different hand, had been ruled competent moreover though his mother said he has autism and a learning disablement and that he had “no existent friendships and spent each of his clip pinch his family,” according to tribunal papers revenge by his lawyer.

In seeking a lighter sentence, Josh’s attorney, Andrew Searle, had portrayed him arsenic a autumn feline for his family. Searle said successful tribunal papers that it was his begetter who started and operated their ministry, ASLAN International, and that his sister, Joy, and mother, Mary Jane, controlled the accounts the ill-gotten indebtedness money was transferred into.

“Given his deficiency of maturity and his dependency connected his family, it is clear that [Josh Edwards] acted astatine the instruction and guidance of others erstwhile he sought and signed for the PPP indebtedness successful this case,” Searle said successful tribunal papers, successful which he noted that the authorities had recommended a condemnation of 36 months, which is the balanced of clip served.

The Edwards family, from left, boy Josh, Pastor Evan, woman Mary Jane and girl Joy.via Facebook

After the condemnation was issued, Searle told Beritaja that he was disappointed the judge went beyond what the authorities had asked for.

“I was hoping we could locomotion retired of the courtroom knowing that he was astatine slightest done pinch his sentence,” Searle said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida didn’t respond to a petition for comment.

Alan Heringa, 1 of Evan’s cousins, said the lawsuit shocked his extended family successful Canada.

“His full life was devoted to the church,” Heringa said. “To scam the government, it’s conscionable unbelievable.”

“I could spot his begetter rolling successful his grave,” Heringa added.

Cracking the case

The Covid pandemic was raging successful the outpouring of 2020 erstwhile Congress passed a rule that, among different things, provided assistance to mini businesses and organizations done the Paycheck Protection Program, aliases PPP. But successful the ensuing months and years, it became evident that the indebtedness programme was a magnet for fraudsters, resulting successful 1 of the top grifts successful U.S. history.

More than $200 cardinal successful Covid alleviation loans and grants was about apt doled retired to fraudsters from March 2020 to January 2022, according to authorities reports.

Evan and Josh Edwards were among hundreds charged pinch defrauding the program. According to national prosecutors, their strategy was group successful mobility wrong a twelvemonth of the family’s relocating to the U.S.

The Edwardses did missionary activity successful Turkey for astatine slightest 2 decades earlier they moved to Canada and past to Florida successful 2019. They settled successful a recently built organization successful New Smyrna Beach, about an hour’s thrust from Orlando.