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Pia Lee-Brago - The Philippine Star
June 22, 2026 | 12:00am
Marizel Cambri Yukee, a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, was indicted on June 18 for leading a health care fraud scheme with more than P51 billion in fraudulent claims against government-funded health insurance programs.
AFP / File
MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino-American nurse from Tuguegarao City, Cagayan has been charged in Houston, Texas for her alleged involvement in a massive health care fraud operation that targeted elderly Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom were terminally ill patients.
Marizel Cambri Yukee, a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, was indicted on June 18 for leading a health care fraud scheme with more than P51 billion in fraudulent claims against government-funded health insurance programs.
Prosecutors said Yukee and her accomplices submitted more than $906 million in fraudulent reimbursement claims to Medicare and TRICARE between October 2023 and April 2026. Medicare and TRICARE paid more than $297 million based on these claims.
She allegedly used this to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchase several high-end vehicles including a $594,000 Ferrari 296 GTS and a $158,000 Cadillac Escalade, an $865,000 Bulgari necklace, a million-dollar home in Hawaii and fund the construction of a $4.6 million beach resort in Sta. Ana, Cagayan.
Authorities are seeking the forfeiture of the properties, vehicles and funds/financial accounts.
Yukee and her accomplices paid illegal kickbacks and bribes to induce health care providers and owners, officers, employees and agents of health care entities to refer Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries to the Yukee clinics.
A nurse practitioner licensed by the State of Nevada and an enrolled Medicare provider, Yukee owned and controlled Wound Medic, My BestHealth First, AllCare Mobile Wound Treatment and Oracle Wound Treatment, collectively known as the “Yukee clinics.”
According to court documents filed in Houston, the purpose was for Yukee and her co-conspirators to unlawfully enrich themselves by submitting and causing the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare and TRICARE for items and services that were medically unreasonable and unnecessary, ineligible for reimbursement and procured through illegal kickbacks.
