• Walter Gnida appeared on a Christian ministry’s loan application.
• Evan Edwards led Florida’s ASLAN International Ministry.
• The Edwardses received $8.4 million.

Walter Gnida, 88 and suffering from dementia, appeared on a Christian ministry’s loan application for federal Covid relief money.

Josh Edwards’ father, Evan Edwards, led Florida’s ASLAN International Ministry.

The Edwardses received $8.4 million. They face multiple counts of fraud and the ire of Walter Gnida’s family.

Kevin Gnida, his son in Edmonton, Canada, called it a betrayal.

Kevin Gnida’s late father admired Evan Edwards, an evangelical Christian who spent years handing out bibles in Turkey, but he would never have signed paperwork overstating ASLAN International’s size.

Kevin Gnida said, “I know my dad would never do this.” “Glad they were caught.”

Evan, 64, and Josh Edwards, 30, were arrested Dec. 14 at their Florida home.

ASLAN International had 486 employees and a $2.7 million monthly payroll, according to its Paycheck Protection Program loan application. Federal prosecutors said Evan and Josh Edwards knew ASLAN’s actual number of employees and monthly payroll expenses were “significantly lower or nonexistent.”

The Edwardses wanted to use federal money to buy a $3.7 million, 4,700-square-foot home in Disney World’s Golden Oaks development. The deal fell through, and authorities recovered all Covid aid money.

Two men face six charges, including bank fraud and making a false statement to a lender.

Bad actors will exploit generations of goodwill, so it’s important to root them out, said Warren Smith, president of Ministry Watch.

The Edwards brothers’ first court appearance was chaotic.

Evan Edwards didn’t show up because he’s sick and refused to use his wheelchair in a court holding cell, his lawyer said. NBC News obtained a transcript that shows Josh Edwards remained silent during the hearing.

A judge ordered the father and son held pending medical and psychiatric exams.

Federal authorities began investigating ASLAN International in 2020 and discovered Walter Gnida. He signed off on the loan application as the organization’s accountant.

The U.S. asked Canada to find Gnida in September 2020. His son told investigators that his father and Evan Edwards had known each other for years, but Gnida now had dementia and hadn’t worked for ASLAN since 2017, prosecutors said.

Kevin Gnida’s father was depressed when police asked about Evan Edwards.

The son said he couldn’t say whether his father signed the loan application, but if he had, he wouldn’t have known what he was signing.

Kevin Gnida said his health was deteriorating.

He died in 2022. His son described him as deeply religious, kind, and trusting.

After taking an H&R Block tax course, Walter Gnida did light accounting.

Most of his clients were truckers and farmers he knew. Kevin Gnida said there were also Christian groups.

He said, “Nobody came to my dad with money.” They asked my dad for money.

His father admired Evan Edwards, a 1980s and 1990s missionary in Turkey.

Edwards changed his name after his family’s proselytizing in a Muslim country made him a target.

Kevin Gnida’s father said missionaries are devout and risking their lives to spread the gospel. “He praised him.”

Kevin Gnida and his brother don’t like Evan Edwards. Now he dislikes him even more.

“It’s awful,” he said. “There’s no ethics or right and wrong.”

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