Apache Behavioral Health Services / White Mountain Apache Tribe
Outcome
Former CEO Kevin Lamorris McKenzie was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $33,155,701 in restitution for embezzling $33 million from Apache Behavioral Health Services, the White Mountain Apache Tribe's federally funded healthcare provider, through shell company kickback schemes spanning eight years.
Details
Apache Behavioral Health Services / White Mountain Apache Tribe — CEO Embezzlement (2015–2023)
Outcome: Kevin Lamorris McKenzie, former CEO of Apache Behavioral Health Services (ABHS), was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $33,155,701 in restitution for orchestrating an $33 million embezzlement scheme against the White Mountain Apache Tribe's federally funded behavioral health provider.
McKenzie, 49, of Tucson, Arizona, first served as Chief Operating Officer and later as CEO of Apache Behavioral Health Services, the primary behavioral health provider for the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. From 2015 through 2023, McKenzie engaged in a multi-phase scheme to defraud millions of dollars from ABHS and the tribe.
In the first phase, ABHS paid over $35 million to Helping Everyday Youth (HEDY) under a subcontract. McKenzie had secretly arranged for HEDY to funnel approximately $16 million in fraudulent proceeds back to a shell company McKenzie controlled — payments for work that was either fictitious or grossly inflated.
In the second phase, from 2018 through 2023, McKenzie entered phony referral contracts with his co-defendant Corina Martinez's company, Evolved Health Care Inc. (EHI). EHI never referred any employees to ABHS, but McKenzie caused ABHS to pay approximately $16.5 million to EHI based on fabricated referral agreements.
McKenzie was sentenced on October 16, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 14 years in prison. Forfeiture included multiple real estate properties, a 2013 Rolls Royce, a 1966 Ford Galaxie, a 2018 Land Rover Range Rover, a 2018 Utility Trailer, a 2021 Cadillac Escalade, and $55,000 in U.S. currency.
Primary Source: Arizona CEO Sentenced to 14 years in Prison for Embezzling $33-Million Dollars from Tribal Healthcare Provider
How Crucible Prevents This
The McKenzie scheme exploited a single executive's control over multi-million dollar subcontract awards with no independent verification that contracted work was performed. Crucible's vendor-performance verification hook would require documented service delivery before payment release. A conflict-of-interest disclosure enforcement control would have flagged McKenzie's secret ownership interest in Helping Everyday Youth (HEDY) before the first $35 million in fraudulent payments. Crucible's shell-company detection protocol checks for beneficial ownership overlaps between vendor principals and approving officials.
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