Emylee Thai had been wanted since 2022 after authorities said she removed a GPS monitor and escaped abroad using a false identity.
HOUSTON, TX — Emylee Thai, a laboratory owner accused in a federal health care fraud scheme involving about $142 million in Medicare billings, has been captured in Vietnam nearly four years after authorities said she fled the United States while free on bond.
The FBI announced Thai’s capture Sept. 14, saying she had been on the run since 2022 and was one of the bureau’s Most Wanted Fraudsters. Federal court records allege that Thai’s laboratory submitted about $142 million in claims to Medicare for genetic testing and received approximately $95 million in payments. Thai faces pending federal charges, and the allegations against her have not been proven at trial.
Thai owned ApolloMDx LLC, a Houston-area clinical laboratory that was later renamed Artemis DNA TX LLC, according to federal court records. Prosecutors allege Thai and others arranged for marketers to send the laboratory Medicare beneficiaries’ DNA samples and doctors’ orders in exchange for portions of reimbursements paid by the federal health insurance program. Authorities said many of the genetic tests were medically unnecessary and often were not used in patients’ treatment.
A federal grand jury initially charged Thai in July 2022 with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks, and offenses involving kickbacks connected to a federal health care program. A later superseding indictment alleged that false dates of service and diagnoses were used on paperwork to increase Medicare reimbursements. Thai was separately charged in 2023 with destruction and alteration of records in a federal investigation.
After her initial arrest, Thai was released under pretrial conditions that included electronic location monitoring. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said her monitoring device was removed Dec. 8, 2022, and her last known location at the time was Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. Authorities were unable to locate her, and an arrest warrant was issued the following day.
Investigators later determined that Thai left the United States aboard a private aircraft while using a false identity, federal authorities said. The Justice Department said in June that she had fled to Vietnam by private charter after cutting off her ankle monitor. She remained a fugitive for years before the FBI placed her on its newly established Most Wanted Fraudsters list in June 2026.
The FBI announced Thai’s arrest in Vietnam in September with assistance from international law enforcement partners. FBI Director Kash Patel said at the time that Thai was the sixth person captured from the bureau’s Most Wanted Fraudsters initiative in three months. The FBI did not provide extensive public details about the operation that led authorities to her location or the circumstances of her apprehension.
Federal authorities have used different figures when publicly describing the case. The FBI’s September announcement characterized Thai as having allegedly defrauded Medicare of more than $100 million. Court documents provide more specific figures, alleging that ApolloMDx submitted approximately $142 million in Medicare claims and received about $95 million from the program. The amount billed is not the same as the amount paid or a finding that Thai personally received that sum.
The case also requires a distinction between Medicare and Medicaid. During a video announcement about Thai’s capture, Patel referred to more than $100 million in “Medicaid fraud.” The federal indictments, Justice Department case summaries and HHS inspector general records, however, describe the alleged scheme as involving Medicare, the federal health insurance program. Those court records form the basis of the criminal case pending against Thai.
Prosecutors allege the scheme began around 2019. According to federal records, marketers supplied beneficiary DNA samples and signed medical orders to Thai’s laboratory and were allegedly paid percentages of resulting Medicare reimbursements. The government contends that some claims involved genetic testing that was not medically necessary or eligible for reimbursement. Prosecutors also allege proceeds from the Medicare payments were distributed among participants in the arrangement.
Thai’s capture does not resolve the criminal charges against her. An indictment is an accusation, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Federal authorities had not publicly confirmed in the cited announcements that Thai had been extradited or otherwise returned to the United States following her capture in Vietnam. Her next court proceedings will depend on her custody and transfer status and further action in the federal case.
Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.