Nurse Arrested in Massive $906M Medicare Fraud Scheme

A Las Vegas nurse practitioner accused in a massive healthcare fraud scheme allegedly used the money to bankroll a luxury lifestyle that included a $594,000 Ferrari, an $865,000 necklace, a Hawaii home and a beach resort project in the Philippines, prosecutors said.

Marizel Yukee, 49, has been charged in connection with an alleged $906 million scheme to defraud Medicare and TRICARE, according to federal prosecutors.

The charges were announced as part of a nationwide healthcare fraud crackdown involving more than 450 defendants.

Prosecutors say Yukee owned four mobile wound clinics in four different states and allegedly targeted elderly Medicare patients, including many who were terminally ill or in hospice care.

As part of the investigation, authorities seized about $35.2 million in assets, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The seized items included a Ferrari 296 GTS, seven other vehicles and jewelry.

Among the items seized was a Bulgari necklace that prosecutors say was purchased for $865,000.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, shared a picture of Yukee on X and accused her of living a “lavish lifestyle” while spending taxpayer money.

“Her actions were a systematic plunder of our healthcare safety net at the expense of our most vulnerable citizens,” he claimed.

Yukee’s attorney, Justo A. Méndez, told The Wall Street Journal that his client is “presumed innocent unless and until the government proves otherwise.”

In an indictment filed June 18, prosecutors alleged Yukee bought a “million-dollar home” in Hawaii with money from the fraud scheme. They also claim she helped fund a $4.6 million beach resort in the Philippines.

The alleged scheme involved billing Medicare and TRICARE for medically unnecessary amniotic wound allografts, prosecutors said. Authorities allege the allografts were obtained through illegal kickbacks and bribes.

According to prosecutors, the expensive allografts were applied to patients’ wounds without first trying, completing or following conservative wound care treatment.

Authorities said the allografts were allegedly used on infected wounds, wounds that had already healed and wounds that were not responding to the treatment.

Yukee is also accused of falsifying patient medical records to make it appear that the allografts were medically reasonable, necessary and met Medicare requirements.

She has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, offering, paying, soliciting and receiving illegal healthcare kickbacks, and transactional money laundering.

The wider federal crackdown resulted in charges against 455 defendants, including 90 doctors and other licensed medical professionals, prosecutors said.

Authorities said the defendants were allegedly involved in schemes tied to healthcare fraud and opioid abuse involving $6.5 billion in false claims and significant patient harm, including death.