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Florida Pastor Evan Edwards and his son were arrested on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, on allegations of fraudulently receiving more than $8 million in Covid Relief funds.
As per the New York Post, Evan Edwards and his son Josh have been under the radar since 2020. That was when officials obtained a Paycheck Program Protection document from their religious organization, the ASLAN International Ministry.
According to the Federal Indictment, officials became suspicious of Evan Edwards and his son in April 2020. At the time, they had applied for a loan that was supposedly for ASLAN, claiming that the ministry was a non-profit organization.
As reported by Law&Crime, Evan Edwards claimed that the organization required a $2.7 million monthly payroll for nearly 500 employees. However, officials determined that the information provided was either exaggerated or entirely false.
The Federal Indictment stated that while Evan Edwards and his son applied for a 6 million loan, they received $8.4 million in May 2020. They are accused of using the loan to buy a $3.7 million house in Symphony Grove Drive, Orlando.
What we know about Evan Edwards?
According to Law&Crime, Evan Edwards was originally born as Ian Heringa in Canada. He reportedly started his first religious organization in the 2000's. Edwards soon moved to Turkey, where the ASLAND International Ministry began to gain prominence.
In 2019, the pastor relocated to Florida, continuing to serve as the President of the ASLAN International Ministry, while his son occupied the role of Vice President.
Within a year, both Edwards and his son were implicated in the fraudulent scheme. The complaint read:
“[I]n truth and fact, as the conspirators then and there well knew, ASLAN’s average monthly payroll expenses were significantly lower (...) The actual number of employees (is) significantly lower [than 486], or entirely nonexistent.”
The complaint went on to accuse Edwards of using the loan to buy the Orlando mansion.
The complaint read that the two intended to use the loan proceeds for unauthorized purposes, which included a down payment for an attempted purchase of a multi-million dollar house for themselves.
While suspicions of their involvement in fraudelent schemes arose as early as 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, they avoided being arrested until this month. Earlier this year, before the duo were indicted, former federal prosecutor Alex Little told NBC that he didn't know why the suspects were not being arrested on the charges.
Little said that he would imagine that the $8 million PPP fraud case will be one that they would bring to justice quickly. He added that he doesn't understand why the father-son duo is yet to be indicted.
Evan and Josh Edwards made their first court appearance on the afternoon of December 14. WESH reported that what occurred during the proceedings has not been disclosed.
