AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton received $25,000 from Anosh Ahmed days after Ahmed was indicted in a federal case alleging a $15 million embezzlement scheme involving an Illinois hospital, campaign finance records show. Ahmed contributed a total of $190,000 to Paxton between 2022 and 2024, according to Texas Ethics Commission records. Ahmed and Sameer Suhail were indicted in July 2024, along with a third defendant, over allegations that they took hospital funds. The allegations have not been proven in court. Ahmed and Suhail have returned to the United States and pleaded not guilty. The contributions have drawn renewed attention after a report by The Wall Street Journal said Paxton rang in 2025 at a Dubai party attended by Ahmed and Suhail. The report described the men as among those indicted in the alleged scheme. Paxton’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the report. Paxton adviser Nick Maddux told Fox News the video was a “politically motivated attack that will go nowhere.” The issue surfaced as Paxton campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat against state Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat. Talarico criticized Paxton after the Dubai video became public, saying, “A party with multiple fugitives and Ken Paxton is still the sketchiest guy in the room.” Paxton was in Tyler on Tuesday at a Republican National Committee rally with Vice President JD Vance, where he urged supporters to vote Republican in November. Early voting was set to begin less than a week later. The campaign donations and the Dubai gathering are separate from the federal criminal case, in which Ahmed and Suhail have pleaded not guilty. The reported contributions offer voters a point of scrutiny as they weigh candidates’ finances, associations and public explanations in a closely watched statewide race.