Kevin Lamorris McKenzie was sentenced last month to 14 years in prison on top of a concurrent five year prison sentence. He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and embezzlement from a Native American tribe.
Prosecutors say McKenzie served as COO and then CEO of Apache Behavioral Health Services when he engaged in a scheme to defraud the organization and the White Mountain Apache tribe of millions of dollars.
They say he used contracts as a front to funnel money from the organization to himself.
The behavioral health organization paid more than $35 million to a group called Helping Everyday Youth. That group made a secret agreement with McKenzie, prosecutors say, and funneled the money to a shell company he controlled instead.
They also say he funneled money through a company owned by a co-defendant, Evolved Health Care Inc. who then split the profits with McKenzie.
McKenzie was ordered to pay back more than $33 million and surrender real estate and luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce.
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In a weeklong series, KJZZ looks at Arizona’s connection to the Japanese internment policies that were instituted following Pearl Harbor, and how it ties into the broader story of racialized public policy. Gabriel Pietrorazio joined The Show for a closer look at the series.
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