Florida Man Earns Five Year Sentence For $100 Million Telco Fraud

The former CEO of Florida telco Q Link will spend up to five years in jail after attempting to steal more than $100 million from two US government programs.

Q Link agreed to settle a case with the Federal Communications Commission over claims that it fudged records to claim millions from the Lifeline scheme, which arranges discounted phone services for low-income people. Owner and foormer CEO Issa Asad also pleaded guilty to money laundering after falsely applying for COVID relief payments.

“When individuals and corporations target programs that serve vulnerable populations to line their own pockets with millions, our office stands ready to investigate and pursue those allegations using all appropriate civil enforcement tools,” said US Attorney Hayden O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida in a statement.

“This settlement addresses the integrity of the Lifeline Program, an important program that helps low-income Americans connect to people and information, a modern-day necessity.”

The Lifeline program, established in 1985 by the Reagan administration, sees Washington send funds to telcos who serve low-income customers.

According to court documents [PDF], the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suspected Q Link filed claims for Lifeline funds despite knowing some of its customers did not use their cellphones. Q Link knew of that investigation in 2014, but in later years continued to file false claims – even for phones that frustrated customers sent back to the FCC.

The FCC knew those handsets were dormant and therefore ineligible for subsidies, but Q Link still took the subsidies – a total of around $618 million between 2013 and 2019, around $109 million of which was fraudulent, the FCC states. In 2024 Q Link pleaded guilty to fraud over the case and agreed to pay restitution.

“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.”

The agency claims Asad must have known what he was doing, since on September 25, 2019, he used his personal handset to search for a story titled “Sprint received Lifeline subsidies for 885,000 inactive subscribers.” A day later he also conducted a personal search into the rules regarding Lifeline accounts.

In 2020 the FCC issued a notice to participating telcos that sending a voicemail to subscribers wasn’t enough to claim the subsidy money under Lifeline. Nevertheless, Q Link carried on issuing invoices for unused lines and doubled down, sending out a message to users that their benefits – including Medicaid and food stamps – would be stopped if they didn’t call in.

Following the settlement, Q Link is no longer in business.

Asad has also pleaded guilty to taking money intended for COVID relief Paycheck Protection Program and transferring it to his personal accounts, rather than putting it towards supporting his staff and customers. He reportedly spent the purloined cash on home improvements, jewelry, and donations to a local university.

Asad and Q Link agreed to jointly pay $109,637,057 in restitution to the FCC. Asad separately paid $1,758,339.25 in restitution to the United States Small Business Association, plus a forfeiture judgment against him of $17,484,118.00.

“The FCC takes very seriously any instance of misuse of public funds and misrepresentation. Protecting taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse is central to our work,” said FCC chairman Brendan Carr. ®

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