MISSION, Texas (Gray News) – A doctor in Texas has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of falsely diagnosing patients with diseases they did not have in order to fund his lavish lifestyle.
According to the Department of Justice, Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada, M.D., was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, seven counts of health care fraud, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
He was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.
In addition to his prison term, Zamora-Quezada was ordered to forfeit over $28 million, including 13 real estate properties, a private jet and a Maserati GranTurismo.
Zamora-Quezada ran a health care fraud scheme involving over $118 million in false claims and the payment of over $28 million by insurers as a result of him falsely diagnosing patients with chronic illnesses to bill for tests and treatments that the patients did not need.
Officials said he did this for two decades.
The DOJ said Zamora-Quezada was a rheumatologist working in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, near the Mexico border.
The 68-year-old also falsified patient records to support the false diagnoses.
The fake diagnoses made patients believe they had lifelong, incurable conditions that required regular treatment in his office. These unnecessary treatments included a variety of injections, infusions, X-rays, MRIs and other procedures.
Because they were taking medications and treatments...
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