Anosh Ahmed, Embezzlement, Illinois 2022

CHICAGO — A former Chicago hospital CFO has been charged with embezzling over $15 million from the hospital, according to a superseding indictment.

Anosh Ahmed, 40, of Houston, Texas, was responsible for managing the hospital's finances, including its Finance, Accounting, and Accounts Payable departments, from 2018 to 2022. Ahmed schemed with the hospital's Chief Transformation Officer, Heather Bergdahl, and the owner of a medical supply company, Sameer Suhail, to cause the hospital to issue payments to vendor companies for purported goods and services that the defendants knew had not been provided.

Many of the purported vendor companies were created by Suhail and Ahmed under various names to conceal their association with the fraudulent payments. Bergdahl opened bank accounts in the names of two legitimate hospital vendors and caused the hospital to deposit fraudulent payments into those accounts.

In an effort to conceal the scheme, Ahmed, Bergdahl, and Suhail allegedly created fictitious invoices, payment requests, delivery receipts, and other false documents about goods and services purportedly provided to the hospital. As a result of the scheme, the defendants caused the hospital to pay more than $15 million into bank accounts that they controlled.

The superseding indictment charges Ahmed with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of embezzlement, eleven counts of aiding and abetting embezzlement, and three counts of money laundering. Bergdahl is charged with 14 counts of wire fraud, 21 counts of embezzlement, and one count of money laundering. Suhail is charged with six counts of wire fraud, six counts of aiding and abetting embezzlement, and two counts of money laundering.

Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled. The investigation remains ongoing, and the public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The superseding indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and other officials. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sheri H. Mecklenburg and Kelly L. Guzman.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-chief-financial-officer-chicago-hospital-among-three-defendants-charged-alleged