NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Josh Edwards, 35, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to two fraud counts related to a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan scheme.
In April 2020, Edwards applied for a $6 million PPP loan for ASLAN International Ministry, claiming the organization had 486 employees and a monthly payroll of $2.7 million. The ministry was approved for an $8.4 million loan. Federal investigators later found the organization’s Orlando office locked, with neighboring businesses reporting that no one was ever seen inside.
Evan Edwards and his son, Josh Edwards, were arrested in late 2022 on charges of fraudulently obtaining millions in Covid relief aid and attempting to use some of the money to buy a luxury home near Walt Disney World. According to court papers filed by his lawyer, Josh Edwards was ruled competent to stand trial despite his mother’s assertion that he has autism and a learning disability and that he had 'no real friendships and spent all of his time with his family.'
Andrew Searle, Josh Edwards’s attorney, argued in court papers that Evan Edwards started and operated ASLAN International, and that Josh’s sister, Joy, and mother, Mary Jane, controlled the accounts into which the fraudulent loan money was transferred. Searle stated: 'Given his lack of maturity and his dependency on his family, it is clear that [Josh Edwards] acted at the instruction and direction of others when he sought and signed for the PPP loan in this case.'
The government had recommended a 36-month sentence for Josh Edwards, equivalent to time served. After the sentence was issued, Searle said in a media appearance: 'I was hoping we could walk out of the courtroom knowing that he was at least done with his sentence.'
Josh Edwards is a Canadian citizen and is likely to be deported following his prison term, according to his lawyer. The Edwards family had done missionary work in Turkey for at least two decades before moving to Canada and then to Florida in 2019, settling in a newly built community in New Smyrna Beach, about an hour’s drive from Orlando.