A South Texas doctor was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday in a massive healthcare scheme involving falsely diagnosing patients to bill for unneeded tests and treatments, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Officials say the 68-year-old rheumatologist Jorge Zamora-Quezada, of Mission, Texas was involved with $118 million of false claims and insurance payments of over $28 million.
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WATCH HEREZamora-Quezada was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in 2020, including seven counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He was also ordered to forfeit $28 million.
"Today’s sentence is not just a punishment—it’s a warning. Medical professionals who harm Americans for personal enrichment will be aggressively pursued and held accountable to protect our citizens and the public fisc," DOJ official Matthew Galeotti said.
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SIGN UP According to officials, Zamora-Quezada lived a "luxurious lifestyle," owning 13 real estate properties, a jet and a Maserati GranTurismo.
Other doctors from the Rio Grande Valley testified at trial that hundreds of patients Zamora-Quezada had diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis did not have the condition.
"Zamora-Quezada’s false diagnoses and powerful medications caused debilitating side effects on his patients, including strokes, necrosis of the jawbone, hair loss, liver damage, and pain so severe that basic tasks of everyday life, such as bathing, cooking, and driving, became difficult," a statement from the DOJ said.
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Patients as young as 13 were treated by Zamora-Quezada at his medical practices in South Texas and San Antonio, according to a DOJ press release following his guilty verdict in 2020.
The case was investigated by the FBI, both the federal and Texas Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, Texas Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
