Ex-Treasurer Extradited |for Bribery Sentence

(CN) - A former Ohio deputy treasurer who tried to sneak into Pakistan after pleading guilty to bribery and money laundering charges has been extradited back to the United States, the Justice Department announced Wednesday night.

Amer Ahmad, who served as Ohio's deputy treasurer as well as Chicago's comptroller under Rham Emmanuel, was sentenced last year to 15 years behind bars and ordered to pay $3.2 million in illicit proceeds, a Justice Department press release states.

The Chicago native pleaded guilty in December 2013 to bribery charges, but fled the country shortly after he entered his plea, according to the government. Pakistani authorities arrested him when he tried to illegally enter the country, and they held him until the United States requested his extradition.

Ahmad went to high school with a securities broker, Douglas Hampton, and hired him as his family's personal financial advisor in 1996, according to the 2013 indictment against Ahmad.

When Ahmad took over as deputy treasurer in 2009, he confirmed Hampton as an authorized broker for the Ohio Treasury Department and pushed the department to make more trades each day, most of which went directly to Hampton at Ahmad's request, according to the indictment.

Hampton received more than $3.2 million in commissions as a result of the larger workload Ahmad facilitated, press release states. In exchange, Hampton allegedly gave $400,000 disguised as loans to GGL, a landscaping business Ahmad ran with Joseph Chiavaroli. Hampton also gave more than $100,000 in legal fees to Ahmad's friend Mohammad Noure Alo, according to the indictment.

Ahmad used some of the money Hampton sent to GGL to pay off his personal credit card, the indictment states.

Hampton and Alo were sentenced last November to 45 months and four years in prison, respectively, while Chiavaroli was given a year and a half behind bars a month later, according to the Justice Department.

Ahmad appealed the sentencing, but a judge threw out his petition after he failed to show up in court as she ordered. A remand hearing is set for Friday at 10 a.m. in Columbus, Ohio.

Karl Schneider of Maguire & Schneider in Ohio represented Ahmad in the case in district court and in his failed appeal. Schneider did not respond to request for comment on this story.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit