Comment on Ex-CEO of Q Link pleads guilty to defrauding millions from federal phone program

The former CEO of a Dania Beach telecommunications company pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in a conspiracy that stole millions from a government program designed to provide cellphone services to low-income people. Issa Asad, 51, of Southwest Ranches, was the CEO of Q Link Wireless, which participated in the federal program “Lifeline” by offering free telephone and internet services and sought federal government reimbursement, according to the charging document in Asad’s case. Customers were eligible for Lifeline if they earned below a certain income threshold or were enrolled in government benefits and used their phones in some way, the charging document said. Q Link and Asad submitted fraudulent claims to the Federal Communications Commission for customers who had not used the phones and “misled and tricked the FCC” into thinking customers were “by manufacturing cellphone activity,” in part by making it seem customers had made outgoing calls that they had not. The FCC began in 2014 investigating whether Q Link and Asad were submitting false claims under the Lifeline program.