Indicted former Loretto Hospital Chief Financial Officer Anosh Ahmed will try to strike a deal with federal prosecutors now that he’s back in the United States — but he’ll again raise claims of prosecutorial misconduct if they can’t reach an agreement.
That’s what defense attorney Dan Webb told U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman when Ahmed made his second courtroom appearance Monday since returning to Chicago.
Coleman once said Ahmed would see no relief based on misconduct allegations against the feds until he was “arraigned, in-person, before this court.” That event finally occurred Monday, when Ahmed briefly appeared before Coleman and pleaded not guilty.
“Glad to see you here, in the flesh,” she told him.
Ahmed, 42, faces fraud charges that could put him away for the rest of his life. But for now, he’s agreed to remain in federal custody while his attorneys try to cut a deal. He’s being held in the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, records show.
If no deal is done, Webb said he’ll be seeking Ahmed’s release and will use claims of prosecutorial misconduct before a grand jury to challenge Ahmed’s indictment. They’re similar to the claims that derailed the failed “Broadview Six” case earlier this year.
“We are trying to resolve this case,” Webb told the judge. “And we’re going to try to resolve it reasonably quickly.”
Ahmed’s next court appearance is set for Oct. 14.
The former hospital executive is charged in two indictments with scamming millions out of Loretto and the federal government. Prosecutors have said he left Chicago for France and Dubai in August 2023, after becoming aware of the investigation against him.
His attorneys said his return to the United States was delayed because of “several significant family health issues.” He was arrested in Serbia in November.
The probe that led to his indictment dates back to 2021, when Block Club Chicago reported the hospital had shared COVID-19 vaccines with employees at Trump Tower, where Ahmed had a condo. The vaccines were just becoming available and were still rare.
Ahmed agreed to be returned to the United States after claims of prosecutorial misconduct spread at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office permanently dropped charges against two of his co-defendants in June after Coleman threatened to hold a hearing.
The feds have since worked to strike deals with Ahmed’s four other co-defendants.
The misconduct allegations revolve around Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg, and they first surfaced in the failed “Broadview Six” case against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters. Mecklenburg also once handled Ahmed’s prosecutions.
Mecklenburg is accused of three types of wrongdoing in the “Broadview Six” case: Excusing grand jurors who disagreed with the feds’ case, having conversations with grand jurors outside the grand jury room, and a forbidden practice known as “vouching.”
Vouching occurs when a prosecutor puts her personal credibility on the line to support criminal charges.
In the prosecution involving Ahmed, the allegations against Mecklenburg include treating indictment as a foregone conclusion and making “inflammatory characterizations of the defendants, including name-calling and folk-wisdom metaphors.”
But the feds last week secured a new indictment against Ahmed, which could be used to diffuse claims of past wrongdoing.