Former Chicago hospital CEO charged with corruption, embezzlement

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An ongoing federal investigation into alleged corruption and embezzlement at a Chicago hospital has resulted in a conspiracy charge against the hospital's former CEO, George Miller, 73, of Dallas, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A 45-count, second superseding indictment accuses Miller of conspiring with the unnamed hospital's then-chief financial officer, Anosh Ahmed, 40, of Houston, to steer vendor contracts and other hospital business to certain medical supply companies in exchange for cash from the companies' owner, Sameer Suhail, 47, of Chicago.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT

Ahmed, Suhail, and the hospital's former chief transformation officer, Heather Bergdahl, 37, of Houston, were originally indicted earlier this year on fraud, embezzlement and money laundering counts. The charges accused them of causing the hospital to issue payments to purported vendor companies for goods and services they knew hadn't 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, the charges alleged. Bergdahl allegedly opened bank accounts in the names of two legitimate hospital vendors and caused the hospital to deposit fraudulent payments into those accounts.

The second superseding indictment, which was returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, renews the prior charges against Ahmed, Suhail and Bergdahl, adds Miller as a defendant, and includes new tax charges against Ahmed for allegedly underreporting income in his individual tax returns.

The newly returned indictment alleges that from 2018 to 2021, Suhail paid Miller and Ahmed a share of $19 million in payments that he received from the hospital, in return for Miller and Ahmed steering those contracts and business to him. The payments to Miller and Ahmed were in addition to the millions of dollars in fraudulent payments charged in the prior indictment, according to the DOJ.

Arraignments on the second superseding indictment have not yet been scheduled.

THE LARGER TREND

According to the Department of Justice, settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act exceeded $2.68 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023. Of that total, more than $1.8 billion related to matters that involved the healthcare industry – including managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, long-term acute care facilities and physicians.

The government and whistleblowers were party to 543 settlements and judgments, the highest number of settlements and judgments in a single year. Recoveries since 1986, when Congress substantially strengthened the civil False Claims Act, now total more than $75 billion.

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.