The wife of a McAllen doctor under federal investigation for health care fraud has been arrested for allegedly knowing and participating in the fraud scheme.

Meisy Angelica Zamora, wife of McAllen doctor Jorge Zamora-Quezada, was arrested Thursday for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to federal court records.

Prosecutors say Zamora submitted “false and fraudulent claims to health care benefit programs, including Medicare, based on patients who were false diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and other degenerative diseases,” according to the federal criminal complaint against her.

Further, the criminal complaint goes on to allege that Zamora “helped further the health care fraud conspiracy by participating in the altercation of and manufacture of medical records in response to investigations by law enforcement agencies.”

Unnamed employees who worked with Zamora told investigators they were instructed to create false and fictitious records in response to Zamora-Quezada’s indictment, and that Zamora was involved in the process of creating said false records, specifically with the laboratory technician to “create missing lab results,” according to the criminal complaint.

Employees say before the grand jury indictment was served, Zamora was heavily involved in day-to-day proceedings at the clinic, and insisted employees referred to her as “Doctora Meisy.”

Employees describe a culture driven by revenue targets, not patient care, stating Zamora was “all about the money” and would frequently ask staff “Why isn’t my clinic full?”

From 2000 to 2018, prosecutors say Zamora-Quezada’s medical practices submitted hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care benefit programs. 

This week, several of Zamora-Quezada’s clinics officially closed. 

Zamora is expected to make an initial appearance in McAllen federal court Friday afternoon.

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