Fla. pastor, son scammed $8 million in covid aid to buy Disney home, feds say

[ItsjustMe]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/15/florida-pastor-disney-covid-ppp-fraud/

Authorities say the men got a PPP loan by falsely claiming their ministry had hundreds of employees

As businesses across the United States were seeking government relief in response to the coronavirus upending the world in 2020, Pastor Evan Edwards and his family were among the millions who applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

His son, Josh Edwards, filed an application for $6 million to cover payroll, rent and utilities for his family’s ministry in Florida, writing that the nonprofit employed nearly 500 people and had a monthly payroll of more than $2.7 million, according to federal records.

The ASLAN International Ministry was approved for an $8.4 million PPP loan. Then the faith-based charity — whose mission was to “communicate Christian love in doctrine and service to the poor” — tried to buy a $3.7 million luxury home near Walt Disney World.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Black Collar Crime

[dalton99a]

2. More at

https://archive.ph/gSZTC

[vlyons]

3. Well so much for Thou shall not steal

That commandment is just for suckers. But then isn't tithing 10% of your income to the church just another form of stealing?

[GreenWave]

4. Worse than the devil.

How many others suffered because the money ran out?

[republianmushroom]

5. did God want it that way, ask him

[twodogsbarking]

6. After a lifetime of scamming people pastor gets caught.

One down.

[lees1975]

7. Virtually any ministry like this

which solicits funds from people who aren't part of a specific local congregation, is likely a scam. Someone's making a big profit off of it, and that's what it exists to do.

[Mosby]

8. Interesting bit from the article

The arrests came months after an NBC News report questioned why they had not been charged in an alleged scheme that authorities had identified about 18 months earlier.

The NBC article goes into this more.

[Stuart G]

9. K & R..One Thing is for Sure...."They were sure they were going to get away with it...Just look at

the one on the far left. That smirk tells it all.