A group of retired NBA players were indicted in the Southern District of New York for allegedly defrauding the league’s healthcare plan through bogus healthcare reimbursement claims.
They are being accused of submitting invoices for healthcare procedures that they never underwent and pocketing the funds they received. According to a statement issued from the Southern District of New York, there are 19 defendants in the case including 18 former players and one of their spouses. The case is being prosecuted by their Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.
They have reportedly been charged with “conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, in connection with a scheme to defraud the National Basketball Associations (“NBA’s”) Health and Welfare Benefit Plan out of nearly $4,000,000.”
FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll said that the scheme, “resulted in nearly $2 million in losses to the National Basketball Association’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.”
“The defendants’ playbook involved fraud and deception. Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners, their alleged scheme has been disrupted and they will have to answer for their flagrant violations of law,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss.
“Terrence Williams, Alan Anderson, Anthony Allen, Desiree Allen, Shannon Brown, William Bynum, Ronald Glen Davis, Christopher Douglas-Roberts, A/K/A ‘Supreme Bey’, Melvin Ely, Jamario Moon, Darius Miles, Milton Palacio, Ruben Patterson, Eddie Robinson, Gregory Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Charles Watson Jr., Antoine Wright and Anthony Wroten” are among the accused.
Williams has also been charged with aggravated identity theft in connection to the case. He is said to have allegedly been the ringleader who introduced others to the methods of the illegal practices in exchange for a cut of gains they received.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “the Federal Government won or negotiated more than $1.8 billion in healthcare fraud judgments and settlements” in the year 2020.