After years of medical school, many graduates are content to be referred to as “Doctor.” But Jorge Zamora- Quezada, a rheumatologist who was licensed to practice medicine, preferred to call himself “Eminencia,” or eminence. Quite a lofty term for someone perpetuated a healthcare scheme from fraudulent claims and false diagnoses that not only put patients in danger but stole more than $28 million from the U.S. taxpayer.
At the core of his scheme, Zamora-Quezada falsely diagnosed his patients with rheumatoid arthritis, making the patients believe that they had a life-long, incurable condition that required regular treatment at his offices. After falsely diagnosing his patients, Zamora-Quezada administered unnecessary treatments and ordered unnecessary testing on them, including a variety of injections, infusions, X-rays, MRIs, and other procedures – treatments that had potentially harmful and even deadly side effects. To receive payment for these expensive services, Zamora-Quezada fabricated medical records and lied about the patients’ conditions to insurers.
Essential to filing over $188 million in fraudulent claims, Zamora-Quezada hired J-1 visas who proved to be more pliable in aiding in his scheme as they were more fearful of losing their immigration status. Zamora-Quezada imposed strict quotas for procedures and used violence such as throwing paperweights at employees to ensure compliance, leading to a climate of fear. Zamora-Quezada even used the employees during an audit by fabricating missing patient files, including by taking ultrasounds of employees and using those images as documentation in the patient records. All while insisting they call him “Eminencia!”
On May 22, 2025, Zamoa-Quezada was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered restitution which included forfeiting his 13 properties in the U.S. and Mexico, a two-engine jet, and a Maserati Gran Turisimo.
Shout out to the Department of Health and Human Services in this case.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “’Depraved’ Texas doctor convicted of $325M healthcare fraud bought jet, luxury properties” published by Austin American-Statesman on May 22, 2025.
Jorge Zamora-Quezada, 68, is a rheumatologist who was licensed to practice medicine in Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts prior to having those licenses revoked in each state.
He accumulated over $118 million in false claims and over $28 million in payments by insurers by “falsely diagnosing patients with chronic illnesses to bill for tests and treatments that the patients did not need,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs.
