Crime & Law
Ex-Loretto Hospital Exec Who Fled US After Being Charged in Massive Fraud Schemes Arrested in Serbia, Prosecutors Say
Loretto Hospital in Austin. (WTTW News)
Anosh Ahmed, the former Loretto Hospital executive who allegedly fled to Dubai after he was charged in a $15 million embezzlement scheme, has been taken into custody in Serbia, according to federal prosecutors.
In a new filing Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office disclosed that Ahmed was arrested on Nov. 30, 2025, following the issuance of a global alert seeking his arrest known as a “Red Notice.”
According to the filing, the U.S. government confirmed to Serbia that it intends to seek Ahmed’s extradition.
“As of now, the United States understands that Ahmed remains in custody in Serbia, pending extradition,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sheri Mecklenburg and Kelly Guzman wrote in the filing. “It is unknown if Ahmed will be extradited, and if he is, it is unknown when.”
According to the filing, a Serbian Court denied Ahmed’s petition to be released to a hotel in Belgrade on Dec. 30 and ordered that he remain in Serbian custody.
Ahmed was one of three people charged with embezzling more than $15 million over more than four years from the hospital.
Ahmed, Heather Bergdahl and Sameer Suhail were charged in 2024 with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with that alleged scheme. Between 2018 and 2022, the trio allegedly created fictitious documents including invoices and payment requests, which contained false information about goods and services that were never actually provided to the West Side medical facility.
Last year, Ahmed was hit with new charges alleging he and three others submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims to the federal government for COVID-19 testing materials totaling nearly $900 million, of which approximately $293 million was paid between June 2021 and March 2022.
That case is set to go to trial in July, but defense attorneys have sought to push it back to September. The others charged in that case include Mohamed Sirajudeen, Mahmood Sami Khan, and Suhaib Ahmad Chaudhry, though prosecutors noted in their filing that they expect Sirajudeen to plead guilty prior to trial.
In their filing, prosecutors note that if Serbia does not extradite Ahmed, and the only defendants present at trial are Khan and Chaudhry, “the government will tailor its evidence to only relevant evidence” in accordance with federal regulations.
Ahmed exited Loretto in March 2021 amid multiple controversies during the pandemic involving improper vaccination events, as detailed in reporting at the time by Block Club Chicago. But according to prosecutors, he obtained a spreadsheet the following month which contained personal information — including names, dates of birth, gender and addresses — of some 150,000 Loretto patients who’d visited the hospital between July 2014 and June 2020.
Ahmed and his codefendants then allegedly used that info to submit the fraudulent claims, according to the indictment.
A status hearing in that case is scheduled for Feb 13.
