PEARLAND, Texas (KTRK) — The owner of a Houston-area clinic is accused of trying to steal almost $1 billion from taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Las Vegas nurse Marizel Yukee, who investigators say owns Wound Medic in Pearland along with three other clinics in Nevada, California, and Hawaii, was indicted Thursday in federal court in Houston.<\/p>\n
From October 2023 to April 2025, prosecutors said Yukee and unnamed co-conspirators submitted $906 million in fraudulent Medicare and Tricare claims.<\/p>\n
According to the indictment, the claims were for “medically unnecessary allografts.” An allograft is a type of tissue transplant.<\/p>\n
Some of Yukee’s patients were terminally ill and died within days of the procedure, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say Yukee submitted an average of over $1 million in claims for each patient and that the government ultimately paid out $297 million.<\/p>\n
Investigators said much of the money went to fund Yukee’s lavish lifestyle, which included a multi-million dollar home in Hawaii, the construction of a $4.6 million resort in the Philippines, a $865,000 Bulgari necklace, and a $594,000 Ferrari.<\/p>\n
That’s in addition to the Porsche, Mercedes, Escalade, two Teslas, and $467,000 in cash investigators said they seized.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said two companies acting as allograft product distributors paid Yukee almost $16 million in kickbacks to purchase their products.<\/p>\n
Yukee is then accused of overcharging the government. In one instance, prosecutors say she paid $1,600 for an allograft product but attempted to charge the government $3,900 for it.<\/p>\n
Yukee allegedly paid other healthcare providers to refer Medicare patients to her clinics.<\/p>\n
Those providers weren’t named in the indictment.<\/p>\n
Yukee didn’t respond to messages seeking comment about the allegations.<\/p>\n
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