In his second federal indictment in two years, federal prosecutors allege Anosh Ahmed, the former CFO and COO of Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed safety-net hospital on Chicago’s West Side, perpetuated a $290 million fraudulent billing scheme by using stolen patient information to submit fake COVID-19 testing claims to the federal government.
In total, Ahmed and his associates allegedly received less than a third of their intended target, according to industry media reports, as they sought reimbursement for nearly $900 million worth of bogus services from the federal government. Of the $895 million in claims submitted, $293 million was paid out before authorities intervened. To date, this is one of the largest known pandemic-era fraud cases being pursued.
Ahmed is accused of accessing the personal data of more than 150,000 patients from the hospital’s records to get reimbursement from the federal government on COVID-19 tests that were never administered. This includes names, birthdates and other identifying information that were used to fabricate test claims through a network of labs in Illinois and Texas. According to the 24-count indictment unsealed this week, none of the tests were ever administered by the hospital.
Feds also allege that after leaving the hospital, Ahmed continued to leverage his knowledge of how to exploit the healthcare system by launching his own labs and creating websites to collect personal data from individuals seeking COVID-related services. The information was then used to generate claims for uninsured testing through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
To conceal his involvement, Ahmed allegedly used fake email addresses linked to his former employer’s domain and backdated invoices to create the appearance of legitimate hospital operations. It is also reported he instructed others to wipe devices, destroy communications and alter records to cover up the fraud. Federal agents are now seeking the seizure of more than $100 million in assets, including luxury vehicles and multiple properties in Texas.
Ahmed, who is believed to now be living in Dubai, has not returned to the U.S. to face any charges. He has instead issued media statements describing himself as a philanthropist and “agripreneur.”
This latest case builds on a prior indictment filed in 2024, in which Ahmed was charged with embezzling $15 million from Loretto using front companies with generic-sounding medical names like “Elite Medical Personnels” and “Maximum Healthcare Solutions.”
Ahmed was indicted in 2024 following a grand jury investigation that began the previous year. In that scheme, he was indicted along with Heather Bergdahl, a former Loretto executive who later joined Ahmed’s private firm, and Sameer Suhail, a longtime associate accused of acting as a pass-through for bogus payments.
Ahmed left his CFO-COO position at Loretto in 2021 under his own terms, amid controversy over misallocated vaccine doses and his professionalism. Under his tenure, during the height of the pandemic’s uncertainty when vaccine demand outweighed supply, Loretto Hospital held unapproved, private vaccination events at high-end watch dealers, steakhouses and the Trump Tower in Chicago.
These events not only resulted in the hospital being temporarily cut off from vaccinating patients in March 2021 but also led to reports that Ahmed was bragging about providing a vaccine to Eric Trump, who was technically ineligible for the vaccine in Chicago at that time.
As for Ahmed’s accomplices in all of his alleged fraudulent endeavors, Bergdahl was arrested last year while attempting to board a private plane bound for Dubai. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Suhail has not yet appeared in court and is believed to be in Dubai with Ahmed.
Meanwhile, Loretto’s former CEO, George Miller, who was originally named in the embezzlement case and hosted an unapproved vaccination event at his local church in 2021, is reported to be cooperating with the investigation and is expected to enter a guilty plea.
