Torrance Councilman Asam Sheikh faces accusations of stealing an elderly veteran’s home and neglecting him until he died from severe malnutrition.
Torrance City Councilmember Asam Sheikh is accused of using his elected office and neighborly proximity to financially exploit and neglect his now-deceased elderly next-door neighbor, according to court filings and documents.
The allegations against Sheikh, who is running for reelection in the city’s third District, date back nearly eight years, according to documents obtained by the California Courier. While it is unclear exactly how the alleged relationship between the councilmember and his former neighbor John A. Fleming began, the two had been neighbors for more than a decade.
A formal complaint detailing these allegations was filed on April 2, 2026, with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division, Elder Abuse Unit, and the Fair Political Practices Commission. In an obtained email complaint, Fleming’s daughter, Anita Fleming-O’Brien, alleged that the first distinct interaction began in 2019.
“In 2019, an estate planning attorney approached my father, Mr Fleming, at the Bartlett Senior Center in Torrance. Mr. Fleming did not know the attorney. However, the attorney knew Mr Sheikh,” the email states.
Fleming-O’Brien alleged that the attorney approached Fleming “for the purpose of amending” his family trust and was notably unchallenged by Bartlett staff.
Though Fleming had turned down the attorney at the time, the connection to Sheikh did not stop. (RELATED: CTA Rescinds Endorsement: Unions and Dems Flee Swalwell Alleged Sex Assault Scandal)
While campaigning for city council, Fleming-O’Brien claimed that Sheikh told Fleming or led him to believe that he would be put in “charge of Veterans Affairs” after he won the seat. It is unclear whether Fleming ever obtained the position, but Fleming-O’Brien noted that Sheikh “didn’t have the authority” or intent to fulfill the alleged vow.
Prior to winning his seat in 2022, Sheikh had unsuccessfully run for the city council position in 2016 but finished last with only 8.4% of the vote. While waiting to campaign again, Sheikh solidified his standing in the city by serving on commissions including the Torrance Planning Commission, Torrance Library Commission and Torrance Civil Service Commission.
Just before winning his seat, in February 2021, Fleming signed a Grant Deed transferring his house in Torrance as a personal “gift” to Sheikh, a deed obtained by the Courier shows. Unaware of the transfer, Fleming-O’Brien said her father continued to live in the house and paid the property taxes between 2021 and 2023.
Fleming-O’Brien alleged that the transfer caused her father not only financial distress but self-neglect.
“Even though Mr Fleming had sufficient savings to live a comfortable life, he was confused and terrified when his taxes increased, therefore, Mr Fleming doubled down on self neglect due to fear of losing his home,” the email alleges. “For example, Mr Fleming turned off his hot water to conserve money. He once turned off the plumbing to all areas of his home except the kitchen to conserve money.”
By 2023, Fleming had been placed in a hospice facility. Fleming-O’Brien alleged that the same attorney who visited him in 2019 approached him again. She alleged that Sheikh told her father he was not allowed to transfer his house and would instead need to fix it.
“To fix it, the attorney had Mr Fleming sign documents that instead amended his Family Trust, leaving gifts, valuing approximately $900,000 to Mr. Sheikh’s daughter, Sarah Sheikh,” the email alleges.
On Jan. 3, 2025, Fleming died. The death certificate lists “severe protein calorie malnutrition” as a contributing cause of his death. The complaints allege that Sheikh, while holding Fleming’s Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD) and living two doors away, failed to ensure adequate nutrition and medical oversight.
Additionally, Sarah Sheikh received and allegedly accepted the gifts outlined in the amended family trust, according to Fleming-O’Brien.
“Mr. Fleming believed that, as a city of Torrance candidate and elected councilmember, he [Sheikh] was responsible, trustworthy, respectful and transparent, therefore, Mr. Fleming gave Mr. Sheikh responsibilities as Mr. Fleming’s Co-Trustee for his Family Trust and Mr. Fleming’s DPOA and ACHD,” the email states. “Unfortunetly, Mr. Sheikh disregarded the oath of ethics he took to conduct himself in an ethical manner as it relates to the community, including residents of his district and more specifically, Mr. Fleming.”
Even after his death, Sheikh allegedly continued to abuse his role in Fleming’s life. Fleming-O’Brien claimed he disregarded the deceased veteran’s intentions and wishes not to have a memorial.
Instead, Sheikh allegedly coordinated an Islamic memorial flyer, including an Islamic funeral prayer, despite Fleming’s deceased wife having wanted a Catholic cemetery to honor her religious beliefs. Not only did Fleming-O’Brien allege that the family was never made aware of the arrangements Sheikh made, but that he received Fleming’s veteran burial flag and refused to return it to the family.
In her complaint, Fleming-O’Brien alleged that she had never known about her father’s situation of being a victim of financial elder abuse until after his passing. She also claimed she had not known about Sheikh taking on the role of a caretaker for her father.
“I didn’t even know about Mr Sheikh. My father never talked about him. Everything was hidden from me,” Fleming-O’Brien alleged.
Sheikh did not immediately respond to the Courier’s request for comment by publication.
