The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against 455 individuals following a two-week nationwide crackdown on healthcare fraud, uncovering schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims from insurers.
The crackdown, which spanned 45 US states and territories, was announced on Tuesday, June 23, by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who called it “the greatest combined federal and state effort combating health care fraud in history.”
A nurse in Texas was charged with billing Medicare for $1 million for each patient to whom she applied unnecessary tissue grafts, the feds alleged.
Marizel Yukee, 49, of Las Vegas, was charged with fraudulently billing $906 million in claims for which she was paid $297 million. Marizel Yukee
She allegedly funneled the stolen funds to buy posh cars, real estate, jewelry, and even built a $4.6 million beach resort in the Philippines, prosecutors claimed. The $865,000 custom Bulgari necklace.
When she was arrested, the feds seized $30 million from her bank accounts, $467,000 in cash, a $594,000 Ferrari 296 GTS, seven other luxury vehicles, an $865,000 custom Bulgari necklace, and another million worth of jewelry, officials claimed. Marizel Yukee and and her husband Rodelson Yukee shopping at David Yurman in Las Vegas.
Separately, three Florida nurses were busted for a $118 million tissue graft scheme. Leigh Tesar allegedly spent $215,000 on a luxury box suite at the Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, according to a criminal indictment.
She also allegedly spent $400,000 on fine art, according to the court papers.
The vice president of sales at a company that sold bioengineered skin substitutes allegedly carried out an illegal kickback scheme from 2021 to 2024, paying medical providers to push their product, prosecutors claim.
Brian Rowan, 47, of Las Vegas, made over $24 million at the company and bought multimillion-dollar homes, million-dollar life insurance policies, and high-end watches and cars, including a $135,000 Maserati, the feds alleged. Medical sales vice president Brian Rowan allegedly spent the stolen cash on a Ferrari 488 Spider convertible.
The Arizona-based company was peddling amniotic wound grafts, which it purchased from tissue banks and then sold at a 2,000% markup — or $1,450 per square centimeter, the feds said, which comes out to $224.75 per square inch.
Rowan and other execs used 40% of their profits to pay out kickbacks, officials alleged.
The scheme targeted hospice patients for the skin grafts, which would be applied without the consultation of their doctors, without protecting against infections, and sometimes applying them to superficial wounds that didn’t require the grafts or to larger areas than needed, prosecutors claimed.
In total, he and his co-conspirators billed $1.2 billion for unnecessary allografts and were ultimately paid $614 million, the feds allege.
Two others, Jeffrey King and Alexandra Gehrke, have previously been sentenced to 15.5 years and 14 years, respectively, behind bars for their roles in this scheme, which netted them $97 million in cash, $21 million in life insurance policies, and four luxury cars, including a Ferrari 488 Spider convertible and three top-end Mercedes vehicles, the feds alleged.
One alleged fraudster in Illinois billed Medicaid for behavioral health services for hundreds of hours a day — despite the fact he didn’t have enough staff to justify it, the feds alleged.
Daniel Robinson, 51, of Palos Park, Illinois, allegedly billed for $67 million for counseling and therapy services that wouldn’t have been realistic even if all of the providers at his company, ODA Solutions Inc., worked 24 hours a day, according to a complaint. Daniel Robinson,
His total claims were $92 million, and he received $75 million, according to the docs.
The money was diverted toward $44 million in investment accounts, $10 million to open a luxury car dealership, $4 million to buy real estate and fund home renovations, court papers allege. Robinson’s 2020 Bentley Continental GT V8.
He also allegedly owned a yacht named Butt Nekkid that was docked in Chicago, court papers show. Robinson’s boat, the Butt Nekkid.
A Texas doctor allegedly carried out an $89 million medical fraud scheme that ended with a student athlete’s death, the feds alleged.
Dr. Jason Finkelstein, 53, of Fort Worth, Texas, allegedly tested the hearts of student athletes at campuses around the country, submitting $89 million in claims under his two companies, Cardiovascular Testing Services PA and Cardiovascular Healthcare Associates PA, the feds claimed.
Yet Finkelstein made up bogus conditions to justify the cardiac testing of the students and signed off on the results after only reviewing them for seconds, prosecutors claimed.
In October 2024, he allegedly claimed one student’s results were “normal” even though the tests showed the student potentially had heart problems.
The student died 24 days later of cardiac arrest during practice with his basketball team, the feds alleged.
Even after Finkelstein was told of the student’s death, he continued to rubber-stamp test results, prosecutors claimed.
A Florida man allegedly ran two bogus medical supply companies and fraudulently billed Medicaid and Medicare for $3.76 billion, court papers allege.
Ibrahim Hilmi, 58, of Miami, billed for medical equipment and wound dressing that his companies, ABRH Car Inc. and Sunshine Senior Solutions LLC, never provided, court papers alleged. Ibrahim Hilmi arrives in South Florida after being busted for an alleged $3.76 billion fraud scheme.
Most of the money he billed for was never paid to him, but he did receive $5.7 million in his companies’ accounts, according to a criminal indictment.
And within weeks, that money was transferred to Hong Kong and Indonesia, the court papers allege. When Hilmi started getting negative reviews accusing him of health care fraud, he fled the country and kept the racket going by getting others to run his business accounts, the indictment alleges.
He was arrested in Kyrenia, Cyprus, and brought to Florida for his first court appearance in the case Monday, prosecutors said.
The prosecution on Wednesday presented five witnesses and video evidence at the trial of content creator Ifeanyi Ogbonna, popularly known as Odogwu Asaba, over alleged rape and manslaughter in connection with the death of 20-year-old Favour Agbro.
The witnesses included Agbro’s twin sister, brother and father, the doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination, and an investigating police officer. The case is being heard by the Delta State High Court in Asaba.
However, the defence counsel requested more time to study the statements of the prosecution witnesses and the additional evidence served on the defence.
Speaking after the proceedings, the prosecution said it was prepared to proceed with the case but acknowledged the need to allow the defence adequate time to examine the materials.
The prosecution team was led by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary of the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Omamuzo Erebe, SAN, alongside the Director of Public Prosecutions, Tejiri Anuhwin, and other state counsel.
Ogbonna had pleaded not guilty to the charges on October 21, 2026, before Justice Michael Nduka Obi. The allegations relate to Agbro’s death in June 2026.
The court adjourned the case until November 19, 2026, for the continuation of the trial, when the prosecution is expected to proceed with its witnesses and evidence.
Recall that the court had remanded the content creator at the Ogwashi-Uku Maximum Correctional Centre after he was arrested and arraigned following allegations of raping Agbro, who later died after ingesting a toxic substance.
The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested a man, Ugwumba Enyinnaya, for allegedly impersonating a lawyer and practising for more than 11 years.
The state Police Public Relations Officerzz, SP Joshua Ukandu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, saying the arrest followed an investigation into a petition alleging obtaining money by false pretence.
According to the police, the suspect allegedly collected ₦650,000 from one Chukwu David in March 2026 to facilitate the processing and approval of a street naming in Ohaozara Local Government Area.
The petitioner alleged that Enyinnaya presented himself as a lawyer with years of legal experience.
The police said investigations following his arrest revealed that he had been parading himself as a legal practitioner despite not being a lawyer.
During interrogation, the suspect admitted that he was not a lawyer, according to the statement.
“A search of his apartment led to the recovery of several exhibits, including a Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal; a portrait of the suspect dressed in barrister’s regalia; purported Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree certificates for the suspect bearing the name of Enugu State University of Science and Technology; a barrister’s robe and wig; judgements allegedly procured from the court and various legal documents allegedly prepared by him, including powers of attorney and deeds of conveyance,” the statement said.
The police said the suspect had been charged to court.
The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi State, CP Hope Okafor, commended the operatives for uncovering the alleged impersonation and urged members of the public to verify the credentials of people offering legal services.
A yet-to-be-identified motorcycle operator has been killed, and two others injured, after a speeding driver, allegedly fleeing police officers, knocked down three motorcycle riders on Liasu Road in the Idimu area of Lagos State.
The incident occurred on Saturday night during a police chase involving a vehicle suspected to belong to Internet fraudsters.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the driver allegedly lost control of the vehicle while attempting to escape from the pursuing officers and knocked down the three motorcycle riders in the process.
One of the riders was said to have died on the spot, while the two others sustained injuries.
It was gathered that the driver and other occupants of the vehicle abandoned it and fled after realising what had happened.
An eyewitness who gave his name simply as Wahab said the vehicle was being chased from the Ile-Iwe end of the road towards the Council bus stop.
He said, “They were coming from the Ile-Iwe side when police officers in a minibus tried to stop them. It was in the process that they increased their speed and drove recklessly.
“It was when the driver lost control that he ran into the okada riders. The one directly hit died on the spot, and the driver and other male adults in the vehicle ran out of the vehicle and fled.”
The vehicle was subsequently towed to the nearest police station, while the injured victims were taken to a nearby hospital.
The incident, however, sparked a protest by commercial motorcycle riders operating along Powerline and Liasu roads, as they stopped conveying passengers to demand justice for their colleagues.
According to another resident, Titi Jayeoba, the protest left several residents stranded as they struggled to find alternative means of transportation.
“We were stranded on Sunday after the okada riders refused to operate. People who depend on motorcycles to get to church and other places were stranded. The tricycles available could not carry everybody, so many people found it difficult to get to their destinations.
“And some were not even interested in tricycles because they would not take them into their streets,” Jayeoba stated.
It was gathered that normalcy had since returned to the area after the motorcycle operators resumed operations later in the evening.
The deceased victim was also said to have been buried according to Islamic rites.
When contacted on Tuesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Adebisi, said she was not aware of the incident. She, however, promised to revert.
