Feds Arrest Florida Pastor and His Son in $8 Million COVID Scam

A Florida pastor and his son were arrested Wednesday on charges of fraudulently obtaining more than $8 million in federal COVID relief funds and attempting to use some of the money to buy a luxury home near Disney World. 

Evan Edwards and his son Josh, 30, were taken into custody five months after an NBC News report raised questions over why they hadn’t been charged for the alleged scam, which federal prosecutors first identified in court papers in December 2020. 

It wasn’t immediately clear if the family had hired an attorney.

The case dates back to April 2020 when Josh Edwards applied for a $6 million Paycheck Protection Program loan to cover payroll, rent and utilities for his family’s ministry. In the loan application, he claimed that the organization, ASLAN International Ministry, had 486 employees and a monthly payroll of $2.7 million, according to a federal forfeiture complaint.

Read more at NBCNews.com.