Former Chicago hospital CFO, 2 others charged in $15 million embezzlement scheme
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Loretto Hospital executive Anosh Ahmed and two others have been indicted on charges of scheming to embezzle more than $15 million from the hospital.
Ahmed, 40, the hospital's former chief financial officer, is charged with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of embezzlement, eleven counts of aiding and abetting embezzlement, and three counts of money laundering.
Former Loretto chief transformation officer Heather Bergdahl, 37, is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud, 21 counts of embezzlement, and one count of money laundering. She was previously charged with embezzlement in May.
Also charged is 47-year-old Sameer Suhail, the owner of a medical supply company accused of plotting with Ahmed and Bergdahl. Suhail is charged with six counts of wire fraud, six counts of aiding and abetting embezzlement, and two counts of money laundering.
Editor's note (11/26/2024): Bergdahl pleaded not guilty to all charges at an arrangement hearing in August 2024. According to court records, Suhail and Ahmed were never arrested, and remained fugitives as of Oct. 15, 2024, the most recent available update on their specific status.
Federal prosecutors said the trio concocted a scheme to create fake invoices, payment request, and other documents that falsely claimed the hospital owed listed vendors money for goods and services it had not actually received. They would then direct money from the hospital to bank accounts they controlled.
Arraignment hearings for all three defendants have not yet been scheduled.
Loretto is identified in the indictment only as "Hospital A."
Ahmed stepped down as Loretto's chief financial officer and chief operating officer in March 2021, after the hospital had arranged for hundreds of well-connected people to get COVID-19 vaccinations they were not eligible for, at a time when the shots were in short supply.
Then-CEO George Miller was suspended for two weeks shortly after Ahmed resigned. Miller admitted to arranging for COVID-19 shots for people who weren't eligible to get them, including workers at Trump Tower, and members of an Oak Forest church. Miller later left Loretto in April 2022.
The Chicago Department of Public Health cut off Loretto's supply of COVID-9 vaccines in March 2021, after learning about the scandal. The city later restored vaccinations at the hospital about a month later, after stepping in to run a new clinic to make sure shots went to those who were eligible.
