Chicago City Wire

An investigation into alleged corruption and embezzlement at a Chicago hospital has led to a conspiracy charge against the hospital’s former Chief Executive Officer. A second superseding indictment includes 45 counts against George Miller, Jr., 73, of Dallas, Texas. The charges allege that Miller conspired with the hospital's then-Chief Financial Officer, Anosh Ahmed, 40, of Houston, Texas. They are accused of steering vendor contracts and other business to medical supply companies in exchange for cash from Sameer Suhail, 47, of Chicago.

Ahmed, Suhail, and the hospital’s former Chief Transformation Officer Heather Bergdahl, 37, of Houston, Texas were initially indicted earlier this year on fraud-related charges. These charges claimed they caused payments to be issued for services not provided by purported vendor companies created by Suhail and Ahmed under various names. Bergdahl allegedly opened bank accounts in the names of legitimate vendors to deposit fraudulent payments.

The second superseding indictment renews previous charges against Ahmed, Suhail, and Bergdahl while adding Miller as a defendant. It also introduces new tax charges against Ahmed for underreporting income. From 2018 to 2021, it is alleged that Suhail paid Miller and Ahmed part of $19 million received from the hospital in return for directing contracts to him.

Arraignments on these new charges have not been scheduled yet.

The announcement was made by Morris Pasqual from the Northern District of Illinois' U.S. Attorney's Office; Douglas S. DePodesta from the FBI's Chicago Field Office; Mario Pinto from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Ramsey E. Covington from IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sheri H. Mecklenburg and Kelly L. Guzman represent the government.

It is important to note that an indictment is not evidence of guilt; defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.