Third person charged in multimillion-dollar statewide health care fraud scheme

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A third person was arrested Thursday for their involvement in a physical therapy fraud scheme.

Jessica Marie Kinser was arrested in McAllen for attempting to "execute a scheme or artifice to defraud a health care benefit program affecting commerce," according to federal documents.

Kinser was indicted along with two co-conspirators involved in the scheme; McAllen resident Ricardo Cano, 46 and Edinburg resident Rosita Cano Meeks, 56.

Cano and Meeks were charged in August 2023 with health care fraud and money laundering after allegedly defrauding a federal worker’s compensation program.

As previously reported on ValleyCentral, Cano and Meeks operated several clinics around the state under the name Texas Federal Wellness Center (TFWC). 

Cano, who was a physician assistant, transferred approximately $43 million from the Texas Federal Wellness Center clinics to various bank accounts in Cano’s name or in the name of clinics Cano controlled, an indictment stated.

Meeks, who is Cano's brother, was in charge of, and oversaw, the fraudulent billing.

Federal documents state Kinser submitted approximately $80 million in claims to a federal agency, including false claims for items and services.

The false claims on the federal document state that TFWC provided five or more hours fo physical therapy to a patient when the patient actually received "far less therapy."

During this time, Kinser also managed the employees and operations at TFWC, according to the documents.

Kinser made her initial appearance in court Thursday.