‘Obama Phone’-Linked CEO Fined $128 Million and Sentenced to Five Years Imprisonment For Defrauding U.S. Government, Money Laundering

The CEO of a company that benefited immensely from the Lifeline program, commonly referred to as ‘Obama phones’ during the Obama administration, has been sentenced to five years in prison and, along with his company, ordered to pay $128 million in fines.

Issa Asad, 51, of Southwest Ranches, FL, and his company, Q Link Wireless, were sentenced for a years-long scheme to steal over $100 million from the ‘Obama phone’ program dating back to 2012.   Asad was also sentenced over charges of money laundering.

Between 2013 and 2019, Q Link Wireless made $618,736,494 from the Lifeline program.  According to the Federal Register, “approximately 21 percent of Q Link’s payments during this period were due to its fraudulent scheme.”

From 2012 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 receiver, providing false information about its Lifeline customers, and deceiving the FCC about its compliance with program rules,” according to a press release from the DOJ’s Southern District of Florida.

Asad engaged in “multiple tricks” that were intended to mislead the FCC regarding how many users were actually using Q Link’s ‘Obama Phones’ while preventing customers who didn’t want the phones from ending their relationship with the program.  This enabled Q Link to continue billing the Lifeline program despite having unwilling customers.

One of the tricks utilized by Q Link was an automatic script that was played for customers that said:

“Hello, your Medicaid, Food Stamp and Lifeline benefits are about to get cancelled.  To avoid cancellation of these benefits, press 1 now to indicate that you wish to remain enrolled in these government programs.  Press 2 if you wish to speak to a representative about your government benefits.  To opt out of any future calls, press 3.”

One customer, who had an inoperable phone, asked, “Do you want me to throw it in the garbage?”  The response:  “Just make sure you continue to use the device at least once every 30 days.”

When Asad learned that Q Link was under investigation by the FCC, he “provided false records to the FCC to conceal the scam and to continue collecting reimbursement.”  Asad and Q Link, along with others, manufactured cellphone activity of Q Link customers who were not actually using the phones causing losses of $109,637,057 to the FCC.  According to the release, Asad also sent more than $50 million in Lifeline funds to Jordanian bank accounts controlled by his family.

Asad wasn’t finished with defrauding the federal government following the Lifeline scheme.  In 2021, Q Link made false claims that its income was “substantially decreased” by the COVID-19 pandemic and proceeded to make unlawful financial transactions of approximately $389,000 on things such as his “Land Rover payment, his personal Amex card, jewelry, and personal property taxes.”

From the press release:

“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,” stated U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’ Byrne for the Southern District of Florida. “These outcomes underscore our resolve to make sure that those who mastermind corporate fraud schemes face personal consequences.”

“Q Link and Asad stole funds from a key FCC program meant to serve low-income households,” said Inspector General Fara Damelin of the FCC, Office of Inspector General (FCC-OIG). “This sentencing sends an important message that egregious criminal misconduct against FCC programs will not go unanswered. FCC OIG investigators and their law enforcement partners at DOJ, IRS, SIGPR, and USPIS, did an outstanding job on this investigation, and we thank FCC for its assistance. FCC OIG is dedicated to stopping waste, fraud, and abuse, and will continue to vigorously pursue investigations against wrongdoers who defraud FCC programs and victimize our most vulnerable populations.”

 

Q Link’s website is no longer active, but was archived previously here.