Florida pastor, 64, arrested over $8.4M COVID loans scam is accused of faking ... trends now
A Florida pastor accused of fraudulently obtaining $8.4 million in COVID loads is accused of faking an illness to avoid prison time.
Evan Edwards, 64, has been hospitalized since December when he was arrested alongside his son Josh for allegedly falsifying documents from his business ASLAN International Ministry.
Edwards allegedly took advantage of the pandemic CARES ACT to apply for the loans through the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020. His family planned to use the money to purchase a $3.7 million Disney World Resort home.
The pastor has been examined by a psychiatrist after he failed to participate in a court hearing last year and couldn't properly speak throughout another one, according to NBC.
A judge on January 26 declared him incompetent to appear in court but some speculate Edwards might be faking his illness to avoid trial.
Evan Edwards, 64, has been hospitalized since December when he was arrested alongside his son for allegedly falsifying documents from his business ASLAN International Ministry
Edwards allegedly took advantage of the pandemic CARES ACT to apply for the loans through the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020. His family planned to use the money to purchase a $3.7 million Disney World Resort home
Dr Ryan Hall determined Edwards wasn't unfit to stand trial after 15 minutes. Hall was unable to identify the suspect's medical condition and whether it was mental health related.
Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman Price echoed Hall's unclear findings but insisted the pastor suffered from an unspecific illness. He was arrested while in a wheelchair in December.
'I know there’s a suggestion of potential malingering on some aspects, but there are medical issues that are completely verifiable,' Price said.
Meanwhile, Defense attorney Brian Phillips urged for a competency hearing in response to Price's question of whether the pastor can communicate.
'In only the most limited fashion, your honor,' Phillips said, adding Edwards's answers were in 'monosyllabic responses or gestures to simple binary questions.'
A hearing to determine whether Edwards will stand in court will occur this month.
The arrest came more than two years after the family - including Edward's wife Mary Jane Evans (second to right) and daughter Joy, 36 (far right) - were stopped by Florida highway patrol trying to flee the country in a Mercedes
Edwards' son Josh can be seen being taken away in December after cops busted him
Business records show ASLAN operated as a family-run nonprofit 'foreign ministry' with father Evan Edwards as chairman and president, son Josh as VP, and daughter Joy as secretary
Prosecutors last month refused to allow Edwards to be treated at home by his family who has been medically trained to care for him, the news outlet reported.
'This is a difficult situation and set of facts,
