By Benjamin Cuaresma
Foreign Sources
MANILA — A Filipina nurse practitioner accused of orchestrating a massive US$906-million healthcare fraud scheme in the United States has been placed under home detention after pleading not guilty to multiple federal charges.
According to court records, Marizel Yukee was arrested on June 22 in Houston, Texas, following the issuance of a federal arrest warrant on June 18. She later appeared before Yvonne Ho of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas for her initial appearance and arraignment.
Yukee entered a not guilty plea to charges that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, transactional money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and the payment and receipt of illegal healthcare kickbacks.
The federal court granted her conditional release pending trial after she posted a US$600,000 secured bond and a US$400,000 unsecured bond.
Under the court’s release order, Yukee must remain under home detention, leaving her residence only for approved activities such as work, medical treatment, legal consultations, court appearances, or other court-authorized purposes.
She was also ordered to surrender her passport and wear a GPS ankle monitor under a location monitoring program while awaiting trial.
Federal prosecutors allege that Yukee, a 49-year-old nurse practitioner from Las Vegas, operated four mobile wound care clinics across four US states and orchestrated a scheme involving medically unnecessary amniotic wound allografts billed to Medicare and TRICARE.
Investigators claim the operation targeted elderly and terminally ill hospice patients, falsified medical records, and paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for patient referrals.
Authorities said the alleged scheme generated approximately US$297 million in Medicare and TRICARE reimbursements. During the investigation, law enforcement agents reportedly seized about US$35.2 million in assets, including cash, luxury vehicles such as a Ferrari 296 GTS, and expensive jewelry.
Court documents further alleged that part of the proceeds from the suspected fraud financed the construction of a US$4.6-million beach resort in Santa Ana.
The allegations remain unproven in court, and Yukee is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. As of posting time, she had not publicly commented on the charges.
The Philippine Nurses Association of America had also not issued a statement regarding the case
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