Florida pastor accused of sham ministry in $8.4 million Covid fraud

A beige Mercedes carrying a Florida pastor’s family became the unlikely center of one of the strangest Covid fraud cases in the country after state troopers pulled it over near I-75 north of Gainesville and federal agents found shredded records, a printer, and phones sealed in signal-blocking Faraday bags.

The arrest of Evan Edwards and his son Josh in late 2022 capped a case that federal prosecutors said began with a loan application in April 2020 and ran through about Sept. 17, 2020. Prosecutors said the family used ASLAN International Ministry, a nonprofit that claimed a faith-based mission, to obtain more than $8.4 million in pandemic aid by falsely stating the ministry had 486 employees and a monthly payroll of $2.7 million. The family had moved to Florida in 2019 after years in Turkey as missionaries from Canada.

The stop laid out the alleged effort in vivid detail. Evan Edwards told officers they were headed to a conference in Texas but could not give specifics. Inside the vehicle, he had a laser printer on his lap. Next to Mary Jane Edwards and Joy Edwards were two garbage bags stuffed with shredded documents. Agents also found suitcases filled with financial records, two more Faraday bags containing laptops and tablets, a document shredder, and backpacks holding external hard drives and USB drives. Prosecutors later said the government recovered $8,417,261.38 before the money could be dissipated.

The case grew more sprawling when an indictment unsealed on Dec. 15, 2022 added visa-fraud allegations, saying Evan and Josh Edwards made false statements in June 2022 immigration documents, including green-card applications. Prosecutors also said the family tried to use loan proceeds for a $3.7 million luxury home in the Four Seasons Private Residence community at Walt Disney World Resort, turning a relief program meant for payroll support into a bid for a high-end property.

The ending was as unusual as the investigation. Josh Edwards, now 35, pleaded guilty to two fraud counts and was sentenced to four years and three months in prison, with his lawyer saying he is likely to be deported after serving the term. In March 2025, a magistrate judge found Evan Edwards incompetent to stand trial, citing moderate to severe dementia, significant permanent cognitive deficits, and physical problems, and the charges against him were dropped. His lawyer said Josh had been a fall guy while Evan ran the ministry and Mary Jane Edwards and Joy Edwards controlled the accounts. For federal prosecutors and lawmakers who have watched Covid aid cases move through the system, the Edwards file showed both the scale of pandemic-relief abuse and how hard it can be to police it before the money is gone.