CEO Linked to “Obama Phone” Program Sentenced to Jail & $128M Fine For Defrauding the Government

Remember “Obama phones?”

Well, a Florida CEO whose company Q Link Wireless benefited from the Lifeline (a.k.a. Obama phone) program has just been sentenced to five years behind bars and ordered to pay a $128 million fine for defrauding the government.

51-year-old Issa Asad has been convicted of a massive scheme to steal around $100 million from the Lifeline program. He was also charged with money laundering.

Here are the details:

MASSIVE Obama Phone fraud!!!

Issa Asad, the owner of Q Link Wireless, an Obama Phone vendor, and his company were ordered to pay $128 million and serve 5 years 'imprisonment' for defrauding the FCC over the Lifeline program (Obama phones).

The company made $618,736,494 off the… pic.twitter.com/CuDdaqHcvO

— CannCon (@CannConActual) July 26, 2025

MASSIVE Obama Phone fraud!!!

Issa Asad, the owner of Q Link Wireless, an Obama Phone vendor, and his company were ordered to pay $128 million and serve 5 years ‘imprisonment’ for defrauding the FCC over the Lifeline program (Obama phones).

The company made $618,736,494 off the Lifeline program from 2013-2019.

He and his company stole over $109,000,000 from the government in fraudulent billing and then made up fake records to try and cover this up once he realized he was being investigated.

According to the Federal Register, Q Link Wireless made $618,736,494 from the Lifeline (Obama phone) program from 2013 through 2019.

At least $50 million of his funds were sent to bank accounts controlled by his family in Jordan.

This wasn’t Asad’s first run-in with law enforcement, either. 

In 2014, Asad deliberately ran a man over in a parking lot in Dania Beach, FL over $65 that the victim claimed he was owed for work he completed.  The victim, Mike Kramer, died from his injuries after being in a coma for several days.

Asad was originally charged with murder but in 2019, he pled nolo contendere to misdemeanor culpable negligence and was ordered to pay a $225 fine and given one year probation for deliberately running a man over and killing him.

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Lets hope “imprisonment” doesn’t mean home confinement. If that’s the case, stand by for a big story

Asad’s fraud scheme spanned nearly 10 years, beginning in 2012 and ending in 2021.

A DOJ press release shared more details of the giant conspiracy to defraud the Lifeline program:

According to court records, the case arose out of the Asad and Q Link’s scheme to defraud the FCC’s Lifeline program. Lifeline makes basic communications services more affordable for low-income consumers. It provides subscribers a deep discount on qualifying monthly cellphone service, broadband Internet service, or bundled voice-broadband packages purchased from participating telecommunications providers. The discount helps ensure that low-income consumers can afford 21st century connectivity services and the access they provide to jobs, healthcare, and educational resources.

Asad and Q Link agreed that they purposefully conspired to defraud this program.  Specifically, beginning as early as 2012 and continuing through at least 2021, Q Link, directed by Asad, cheated the Lifeline program by making repeated false claims for reimbursement, taking and retaining Lifeline funds that it was not entitled to receive, providing false information about its Lifeline customers, and deceiving the FCC about its compliance with program rules. Asad directed these illegal activities and conspired with others to commit the fraud.

Among other things, according to court records, the Asad and Q Link engaged in multiple tricks designed to mislead the FCC about how many people were actually using Q Link’s Lifeline phones, and to prevent customers who did not want the phones from ending their relationship with Q Link (which would have prevented Q Link from billing the program for them).  Asad and Q Link manufactured non-existent cellphone activity and engaged in coercive marketing techniques to get people to remain Q Link customers. On one occasion, for example, Asad and Q Link devised the following automated script to be played for Q Link customers: “Hello, your Medicaid, Food Stamp and Lifeline benefits are about to get cancelled. To avoid cancelation of these benefits, press 1 now to indicate that you wish to remain enrolled in these government programs. Press 2 if you wish to speak to a representative about your government benefits. To opt out of any future calls, press 3.” The Asad and Q Link used this false and threatening script to coerce customers into accepting Lifeline services.  In another recorded call in which a similar script was deployed, a customer, who called to cancel due to a non-working cellphone, asked the Q Link customer service representative, “Do you want me to throw it in the garbage?” The representative instructed the customer to “Just make sure you continue to use the device at least once every 30 days.”

Upon learning that the FCC was investigating their Lifeline billing, Asad and Q Link created and provided false records to the FCC to conceal the scam and to continue collecting reimbursement. As part of this plan, Asad and Q Link, with the help of others, simply manufactured cellphone activity on behalf of Q Link customers who were not using their cellphones. At no point did Q Link amend past Lifeline claims for customers who were not using their cellphones or return any of the Lifeline payments.  Asad and Q Link, together with their co-conspirators, caused a $109,637,057 loss to the FCC.  Asad admitted that he sent over $50 million in Lifeline funds to bank accounts he and his family member controlled in Jordan.

In addition to defrauding the government through the Lifeline program, Asad also committed a similar crime through a COVID-era program.

Meanwhile, Asad defrauded another federal government program, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), by making false statements about Q Link’s business.  Congress created the PPP during the Covid-19 pandemic to authorize forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses.  Asad, in Q Link’s name, executed a fraudulent scheme to obtain, and keep, PPP proceeds.  To further the scheme, Asad made false statements about Q Link’s business, including a false claim that Q Link’s Lifeline reimbursements substantially decreased because of the pandemic.  Asad then, in 2021, engaged in an unlawful financial transaction involving approximately $389,000 of those proceeds. Asad spent PPP loan proceeds on a Land Rover payment, his personal Amex card, jewelry, and personal property taxes.

Lock him up!