In a substantial fraud case resolution, South Florida’s Q Link Wireless and its CEO, Issa Asad, have faced stern legal consequences for defrauding government programs. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the telecom company will pay over $109 million in forfeiture and Asad is hit with a five-year prison sentence.
After a thorough investigation, Asad, 51, and his company were sentenced for scheming to steal from the Lifeline federal program, which subsidizes phone service to low-income people. They have agreed to pay $109,637,057 in restitution to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Additionally, separately sent by Asad, $1,758,339.25 will be paid in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Association, coupled with a forfeiture judgment against him of $17,484,118.00.
The fraud involved creating and reporting false information about Q Link’s Lifeline customers and manipulating cellphone activity to falsely claim government subsidies. U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’ Byrne, representing the Southern District of Florida, condemned the actions, stating, “Issa Asad and his company, Q Link Wireless, deliberately scammed two vital government programs aimed at supporting people and companies in economic distress.” Asad also misused funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by inflating claims about Q Link’s financial distress due to the pandemic…