A Florida telecommunications company and its CEO were sentenced in a “years-long scheme to steal over $100 million” from the federal government in an “Obama phone” scam.
Issa Asad and Q Link Wireless LLC were sentenced “for conspiring to defraud and commit offenses against the United States,” according to the Department of Justice, which announced the 51-year-old CEO faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing from the Lifeline program.
Subsidized cellphone services were provided for low-income people in the program that was expanded under former President Obama, with the devices being dubbed “Obama phones” by some recipients.
Assad was also sentenced for “laundering money from a separate scheme to defraud a different federal program meant to aid individuals and businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the DOJ.
The company and its CEO were ordered to pay penalties and restitution amounting to more than $128 million, the “largest criminal matter involving the FCC and the largest criminal plea deal in the history of the Southern District of Florida,” according to CBS 12.
“Issa Asad and his company, Q Link Wireless, deliberately scammed two vital government programs aimed at supporting people and companies in economic distress, wrongfully diverting hundreds of millions of dollars for their personal benefit and gain, all while impeding the government’s capacity to assist those who genuinely required the help,” U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement.
“These outcomes underscore our resolve to make sure that those who mastermind corporate fraud schemes face personal consequences,” O’Byrne added.
Kareem Carter, an executive special agent with the IRS Criminal Investigation, Washington, D.C., Field Office, called it a “brazen scheme of staggering proportions.”
“Mr. Asad prioritized his own greed, stealing $100 million from taxpayers,” Carter said. “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that our Global Illicit Financial Team and our law enforcement partners remain vigilant and will vigorously pursue those who attempt to enrich themselves through fraudulent means.”
Asad and Q Link “agreed that they purposefully conspired to defraud” the government’s Lifeline program
“Specifically, beginning as early as 2012 and continuing through at least 2021, Q Link, directed by Asad, cheated the Lifeline program by making repeated false claims for reimbursement, taking and retaining Lifeline funds that it was not entitled to receive, providing false information about its Lifeline customers, and deceiving the FCC about its compliance with program rules,” the DOJ noted. “Asad directed these illegal activities and conspired with others to commit the fraud.”
They “engaged in multiple tricks designed to mislead the FCC” and “manufactured non-existent cellphone activity and engaged in coercive marketing techniques” over a period from 2012 to 2021.
Asad and the company reportedly continued the scam, providing false records even as they learned of the investigation.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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