SDTX recovers nearly $150 million for victims and the American taxpayer in 2025
Feb 2, 2026 · Sourced to the U.S. Department of Justice
A total of $148,149,674.47 has been collected in combined criminal, civil and asset forfeiture actions in calendar year 2025
Defendants
- Emylee Thai · fled the country; civil forfeiture pursued
- David Jenson — Spring, Texas · charged
- Nestor Rafael Romero Magallanes — Spring, Texas · charged
- Maxwell Sterling Jensen — Draper, Utah · indicted
- James Lael Jensen — Sandy, Utah · indicted
Charges
Medicare fraud involving genetic testing that was medically unnecessary, induced by kickbacks and included false statements as to dates of service and diagnosis codes
Emylee Thai· charged (criminal prosecution paused; civil forfeiture default judgment entered)
Medicare fraud scheme involving fraudulent billing for skin substitute products for patients without qualifying wounds and falsifying medical records
David Jenson· charged
Medicare fraud scheme involving fraudulent billing for skin substitute products for patients without qualifying wounds and falsifying medical records
Nestor Rafael Romero Magallanes· charged
Illicit oil importation, money laundering and material support to a Mexican cartel designated as a foreign terrorist organization
Maxwell Sterling Jensen· indicted
Illicit oil importation, money laundering and material support to a Mexican cartel designated as a foreign terrorist organization
James Lael Jensen· indicted
Financial actions
- combined recovery: $148,149,674.47 — Total collected in combined criminal, civil and asset forfeiture actions in calendar year 2025
- restitution: $21,572,847.34 — Restitution collected for crime victims across all criminal matters
- civil enforcement: $85,932,764.13 — Recovered through civil enforcement actions for the American taxpayer
- forfeiture: $40,644,063 — Collected through asset forfeiture
- forfeiture: approximately $5 million — Civil forfeiture of real property tied to Medicare genetic testing fraud scheme; default judgment entered and properties forfeited
- seizure: approximately $83 million — Seized alleged fraud proceeds from Medicare fraud scheme involving $90 million in fraudulent billing, with nearly $70 million in cryptocurrency; seeking forfeiture
- money judgment: estimated $300 million — Pending criminal case seeks money judgment and forfeiture of funds, vehicles, oil barges and real properties related to illicit oil importation, money laundering and material support to Mexican cartel
From the announcement
“The Southern District of Texas' mission is not only to protect the physical safety of our fellow citizens, but also to safeguard the taxpayer from fraud and abuse. Over the past year, my office has pursued an aggressive enforcement strategy to recover debts owed to crime victims and the American people. Those efforts have proven successful. The funds we recovered represent the delivery of justice and concrete results for taxpayers,”
“By imposing considerable financial penalties on offenders, my office will continue to make crime more costly and less profitable. Our case results send a loud and unequivocal message to would-be offenders: crime doesn't pay.”
Investigating agencies
Case details
- Prosecuting office
- Southern District of Texas
Primary source
Every fact above is drawn from the Department of Justice's own announcement — a public-domain government record.
Read the original DOJ release →This is a research and reference page compiled from public DOJ announcements, not legal advice. Details reflect the government's statements as of its release date and may not capture later developments such as appeals, dismissals, or overturned convictions. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.