Obama Donor Who Gave $1 Million to 2012 Campaign and Called Nancy Pelosi a 'Personal Friend' Indicted for Fraud, Manslaughter

A major donor to President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign has been indicted by a California grand jury for allegedly spearheading a multimillion dollar fraud scheme, as well as for alleged involuntary manslaughter, KPCC-FM in Pasadena reported.

Kareem Ahmed (Image source: KNBC-TV)

According to a sealed indictment obtained by Talking Points Memo, Kareem Ahmed — the Obama donor and president and CEO of Landmark Medical Management in Ontario — is accused of developing topical cream formulas "based on the profitability of the ingredients" and then giving doctors who treated workers' compensation patients illegal financial incentives to prescribe the creams, TPM said.

The 2009-2013 scheme also involved filing false claims with multiple insurance companies, TPM added, citing the indictment.

More from TPM:

The indictment provides few details on the involuntary manslaughter charge, alleging only that Ahmed, a pharmacist named Michael Rudolph, and a doctor named Andrew Jarminiski (who are both charged along with Ahmed in the first indictment) "did unlawfully and without malice kill Andrew G. (a minor), a human being, in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner and without due caution and circumspection."

In response to a request for comment, Ahmed's assistant Ladonna Hieber emailed a statement to KPCC: "Kareem Ahmed and his staff are innocent of all charges that have been alleged. The charges are meritless and we expect full exoneration of any wrongdoing." 

A spokeswoman at the Orange County DA's office told KPCC she cannot comment on the sealed indictment.

TPM reported that Ahmed gave $1 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action in 2012 as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars to support Democrats — even calling House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "a personal friend" in a 2012 TPM interview.

"I hang out with governors, U.S. Senators, Nancy Pelosi is a personal friend," Ahmed said then. "OK, listen, a lot of people are my personal friends."

He has attended high-priced fundraisers and events with Obama and the first lady Michelle Obama, among them a May 10, 2012 dinner with Obama at the California home of the actor George Clooney, TPM added.

Data maintained by The Center for Responsive Politics indicate Ahmed gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats in 2013, TPM said.

Image source: KNBC-TV

More from the 2012 TPM profile of Ahmed:

Ahmed is also a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, an Islamic movement founded in the late 1800s in India by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who the community holds to be the messiah. Ahmed expressed great pride in having helped organize a visit of the Ahmadiyya community's current spiritual leader, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, to Congress in late June, when Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) recognized Ahmed by name during remarks from the House floor.

"You know, I am supporting the Democrats, I support President Clinton, President Obama, you know, Nancy Pelosi, all these other people, because they support philanthropic work, and they give religious freedoms," Ahmed said. "Look at the respect they gave to His Holiness. ... That is my main angle. That is why I've been supporting the Democratic community, because I believe they do more than the Republican side."

(H/T: Talking Points Memo)