It’s said that death and taxes are the two constants in our lives, but there’s a good case to be made that scammers are also a permanent fixture. Someone will always be looking to get something for nothing by fraudulent means, and the U.S. Medicare system makes an attractive and potentially lucrative target. Healthcare fraud can generate massive riches for those willing to exploit the system, but getting that greedy can lead to severe consequences.
Alexandra Gehrke and her husband, Jeffrey King, are a good example. Gehrke, who pleaded guilty to counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud over a year ago, was sentenced for her role in the couple’s massive healthcare fraud scheme on October 7, 2025. The co-founder of Apex Medical LLC and Viking Medical Consultants LLC received 168 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay $615 million in reimbursement. King’s turn to hear his fate is almost here, as his sentencing date is scheduled for October 10.
Buoyed by the more than $1.2 billion generated from their medically unnecessary wound graft scheme that preyed on elderly patients, Gehrke and King became a glamorous power couple in Scottsdale, Arizona. It all came tumbling down four months after they’d tied the knot, with federal agents arresting them as they waited to board a flight to London in June 2024. U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver denied a request from Gehrke’s attorney for a downward variance on her sentence.
Bigger Is Better, Right?
Asking nurse practitioners to ignore their own medical training and instead follow directives for using unnecessary allografts on terminally ill patients from sales representatives working for a former real estate agent and a DJ sounds like something that couldn’t possibly have worked. However, it was the corrupt heart at the center of the health insurance scam operated by Gehrke and King.
Reps from Apex Medical and Viking Medical, who had no medical training or education, would target elderly patients in hospices and nursing homes, searching for any type of non-healed wound. The reps would then order amniotic wound grafts from a graft distributor that Gehrke and King had a kickback deal set up with. Gehrke trained her reps to maximize the size of the graft regardless of the wound, as payment was derived from the graft’s total area, and either coerce or bribe the nurses to use the grafts through King’s company. In some instances, the unnecessary grafts worsened the wound care process and further complicated the patient’s recovery.
Through Apex and Viking, Gehrke and King would then bill their fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, CHAMPVA (the health care program for spouses and children of permanently disabled veterans), TRICARE (the health care program for U.S. service members and their families), and private insurance plans for the grafts. Between November 2022 and May 2024, the two billed over $1.2 billion to the government and private insurers. They received payment for almost two-thirds of the $960 million they charged the federal government.
Guess She Wasn’t Paying Attention on “Take Your Daughter To Work Day”
While their grift brought them a lot of money in a relatively short period, Gehrke and King didn’t get to enjoy their exciting life of luxury vehicles, recreational drugs, and expensive jewelry for very long. The Department of Justice (DOJ), working with other agencies that included the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), uncovered the scam and arrested the newlyweds at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in June 2024.
Gehrke pleaded guilty on October 24, 2024, with King following suit on January 31, 2025. In addition to the pair agreeing to pay over $1.2 billion in restitution, the government seized close to $100 million in assets and the forfeiture of over $400 million in ill-gotten funds.
Evidence presented at a detention indicated the couple’s flight to England may have been considered a one-way trip, with books titled “How To Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave False Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace,” and “Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive The System,” found in their possession, along with a notes containing codes for crypocurrency use, how to transfer funds to a Swiss bank account, and the amount required to purchase a dual citizenship in Malta.
Gehrke’s attorney offered a list of mitigating factors in the hope of getting her sentence reduced. These included cocaine addiction, anxiety, undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the aloofness of her father, who was a practicing attorney. Judge Silver instead focused on Gehrke’s overwhelming greed but did remove 30 months from what prosecutors had recommended during a sealed part of the proceeding.
Related Resources
- Can the Government Seize My Property Without Paying Me? (FindLaw’s Learn About the Law)
- Fraud and False Swearing: An Analysis of the Insurer’s Right To Avoid Coverage (FindLaw’s Corporate Governance)
- Curses, Stereotypes Aren’t Pros’ Misconduct in Medicare Fraud Case (FindLaw’s Federal Courts)
