City Health Commissioner Irshad Shaikh, 39, came under scrutiny by Delaware County law enforcement officials in 1999 after the Times reported that he may have written prescriptions illegally.
Shaikh, a 1987 graduate of Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, is not licensed to practice medicine in this country, and therefore is not permitted to write orders for prescription drugs.
After an investigation by the District Attorney's office, Shaikh was brought before a grand jury.
It recessed without issuing any indictments.
Shaikh -- one of three men grilled by the FBI yesterday - has been the city health officer since 1994. In that time, he hasbuilt a reputation as a well-respected health advocate for Chester.
In an 1999 interview, Dr. Thomas McBride, long-time president of Chester's Board of Health, called Shaikh "brilliant," and "the best thing that has happened, health-wise, to the citizens of Chester that I've ever known of."
Yesterday, Mayor Dominic Pileggi, who helped recruit Shaikh seven years ago, praised his health commissioner and his efforts.
"Dr. Shaikh has been working very hard at his job as health commissioner," the mayor said. "He's got a reputation that he's built over the last seven hears for helping people."
Pileggi said he was not privy to the reasons behind the sealed search warrants, but said unless the searches turn up evidence of wrongdoing, Shaikh will remain in good standing with city leaders.
The health commissioner holds a master's degree and Ph.D in public health from Johns Hopkins University.
In a 1995 interview with the Times, Shaikh said he had originally intended to become a neurosurgeon, but became fascinated with epidemiology and public health after being hired as head research officer for the Pakistan Medical Research Council at the Federal Ministry of Health in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Before coming to the U.S., he also held the position of project officer for the first National Health Survey of Pakistan, a joint project with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Health Statistics, and worked with the former UNICEF Sub-Saharan Africa chief on AIDS projects.
Shaikh came to the United States in 1993 as an exchange student. He had been granted a World Health Organization scholarship to study for a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University, where he currently is a part-time instructor.
A year later, the Pakistani government granted his request to stay in the U.S. to pursue his Ph.D -- but at his own expense.
Around the same time, while still a student at Johns Hopkins, he was hired as Chester City's top health official. The post pays $69,000 a year, plus benefits which include a city vehicle.
Shaikh's brother, Masood, director of the city's lead abatement program, and city accountant Asif Kazi were also questioned yesterday by the FBI. What the federal investigators are looking for is still unknown.
FBI agents armed with sealed search warrants scoured the Edgmont Avenue apartment shared by the Shaikh brothers as well as Kazi's nearby home on West 21st Street. Shaikh's second-floor city hall office and Kazi's office in the annex building across the street were also searched.
Around 4 p.m. yesterday, several agents left the offices carrying soft-sided briefcases that appeared to be full. They declined to comment about the search.
Masood Shaikh earns $30,000 with the city. Like his brother, he is also a resident of Pakistan, Pileggi said. He had previously worked for the city, returned to Pakistan in 1999 to care for his ill mother, and subsequently returned to Chester, Pileggi confirmed.
Asif Kazi was hired as head accountant in 1999 at a salary of $45,000. Kazi, a native Pakistani, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, Pileggi said.Of the trio, Pileggi said, "I think it is fair to say they are held in high regard by their co-workers."