Indicted ex-Loretto exec’s return to U.S. could add to feds’ 'Broadview 6' headaches

Two weeks ago, a federal judge shot down a request from an indicted former Loretto Hospital executive living overseas who asked her to toss his case over claims of prosecutor misconduct — even though he’s yet to show his face in her courtroom.

The judge said she’d reconsider if Anosh Ahmed returned to the United States and faced the charges. Now, he appears to be taking her up on the offer, putting new pressure on U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office in the middle of the “Broadview Six” scandal .

Ahmed lawyer Matthew Carter revealed in court Wednesday that Ahmed would no longer fight extradition from Serbia, where he’s been held in custody. The move appears to clear the way for Ahmed, Loretto’s former chief financial officer, to return to the United States.

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That could leave Boutros’ office with a tough decision to make.

Sheri Mecklenburg , the prosecutor accused of mishandling the “Broadview Six” grand jury, has faced similar misconduct allegations in Ahmed’s case. The feds already avoided a hearing about the allegations in June by permanently dropping charges against two of Ahmed’s co-defendants.

But Ahmed will likely seek similar treatment once he is arraigned by U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. And she is clearly interested in holding an evidentiary hearing about the allegations that have rocked the Dirksen Federal Courthouse this summer.

Coleman warned prosecutors last month that a hearing was “still a possibility” and even told them to “make sure that your boss understands,” in a reference to Boutros. Still, she ruled July 16 there’d be no such hearing for Ahmed until he “is arraigned, in-person, before this court.”

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

It’s not clear when that will happen. Carter said Ahmed could return to the United States by late August. And in the meantime, there’s been no official renewal of Ahmed’s request for dismissal or a hearing.

But if Ahmed renews that bid, and the judge moves forward with a hearing, the feds’ only way out might be to drop charges against Ahmed — a man accused of defrauding the U.S. government out of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The feds’ new quagmire ends three weeks of relative calm at the Dirksen courthouse. That’s compared to the firestorm that erupted May 21 with the revelations of apparent prosecutor misconduct in the failed “Broadview Six” case against six Operation Midway Blitz protesters.

Other scandals began to surface, and judges questioned whether they could rely on information from federal law enforcement. A magistrate judge eventually ordered Boutros into her courtroom July 9, finding that he’d violated her order sealing a criminal case. She ordered no sanction.

For his part, Boutros announced “sweeping” reforms to grand jury practices in his office, as well as a review of Mecklenburg cases going back nearly 20 years . He told the magistrate judge he didn’t intend to violate her seal order.

But the “Broadview Six” scandal is not going away. U.S. District Judge April Perry, who presides over the case, has been asked to appoint a special counsel to investigate Boutros and others. Hearings are still possible in other cases, including Ahmed’s.

Sheri Mecklenburg is seen through the two-way mirror of the lineup room at a Chicago police station in April 2006.

Sally Ryan for The New York Times

Mecklenburg is accused of various misconduct including “vouching,” a prohibited practice i n which a prosecutor puts their personal credibility on the line to support criminal charges. She’s also accused in Ahmed’s case of “inflammatory characterizations of the defendants” and treating an indictment as a foregone conclusion.

Six people were charged along with Ahmed in two separate cases tied to Loretto Hospital. However, Ahmed might be the only defendant among them with pending charges by the time he returns to Chicago. In addition to dropping charges against two co-defendants, the feds have been working to strike deals with the remaining four.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman handles Ahmed’s other criminal case. However, Gettleman has not been asked to settle questions tied to Mecklenburg’s alleged misconduct.

The feds’ probe of Ahmed and Loretto Hospital dates back to 2021, when Block Club Chicago reported that 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.

Federal prosecutors say Ahmed left Chicago for France and Dubai in August 2023, after he became aware of the investigation. His lawyers say his return to the United States was delayed because of “several significant family health issues.” They deny that he is a fugitive.

He’s been held in custody in Serbia since November.

Related

Ex-Loretto Hospital exec accused of defrauding feds through COVID-19 testing scheme arrested in Serbia

Loretto exec’s fraud case now in jeopardy as ‘Broadview 6’ prosecutor faces scrutiny over alleged misconduct

After judge threatens hearing over grand jury misconduct, feds drop charges in case tied to Loretto exec

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