Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Abdelhak

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Abdelhak,
CC No. 200108691 (Pa. C.P. Allegheny County, August 16, 2002)

The
Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania dismissed nearly 300
counts of a criminal indictment against Sherif Abdelhak, the former President
and Chief Executive Officer of the Allegheny Health Education and Research Foundation
(AHERF). These counts had accused Mr. Abdelhak of failing to make the required
disposition of funds when he authorized transfers of money from endowment trust
funds to pay for the operational expenses of AHERF and its hospital subsidiaries
prior to AHERF’s filing for bankruptcy. The court reasoned that, since Mr. Abdelhak
was not a shareholder or owner of the business, the only way he benefitted from
the transaction was that he continued to draw a salary and other benefits as
long as AHERF remained viable. However, the court refused to dismiss another
300 counts accusing Mr. Abdelhak of misapplication of entrusted property, as
well as one additional count accusing him of theft by unlawful taking relating
to an anonymous donation of $50,000 from AHERF funds to a local school district
to refurbish a locker room facility at a high school where his son played football.
Perhaps most significant, however, was the court’s ruling that an evidentiary
hearing will be necessary to determine whether the destruction of notes kept
by an investigator for the Attorney General’s office violated Mr. Abdelhak’s
right to a fair trial.