A federal court in New York has charged 18 former NBA players and one spouse with an alleged $3.9 million scheme aimed at defrauding the league's health insurance plan.
According to an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, former New Jersey Nets and Boston Celtics guard Terrence Williams was the ringleader of the plan to submit false claims to the NBA's Health and Welfare Benefit Plan between 2017 and 2020. Specifically, Williams is accused of asking for kickbacks in exchange for filing false invoices on behalf of other former players.
Williams allegedly had fake template invoices emailed to the other defendants. However, according to the indictment, the bogus invoices were noticed because they were 'not on letterhead.' Also, they contained 'unusual formatting' and 'grammatical errors.'
Other accused former players include Chris Douglas-Roberts, who played with Williams on the Nets, as well as Tony Allen, Shannon Brown, Glen 'Big Baby' Davis, Sebastian Telfair, Darius Miles, Milt Palacio, Antoine Wright, Ruben Patterson, Alan Anderson, CJ Watson, Eddie Robinson, Will Bynum, Melvin Ely, Jamario Moon, Greg Smith, and Tony Wroten.
Allen's wife, Desiree, is also named in the indictment, which was first reported by NBC New York.
All of the defendants are charged with health care fraud and aggravated identify theft. As of midday on Thursday, 16 of the 19 defendants had been arrested, according to prosecutors.
An NBA spokesperson did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
A federal court in New York has charged 18 former NBA players and one spouse with an alleged $3.9 million scheme aimed at defrauding the league's health insurance plan. According to an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York on Thursday, former New Jersey Nets and Boston Celtics guard Terrence Williams was the ringleader of the plan to submit false claims to the NBA's Health and Welfare Benefit Plan between 2017 and 2020. Specifically, Williams (pictured) is accused of asking for kickbacks in exchange for filing false invoices on behalf of other former players
Glen 'Big Baby' Davis (left) and Darius Miles (right) were also named as defendants in the case
Former NBA guard Sebastian Telfair (pictured), a high school phenom and the younger cousin of former Knicks star Stephon Marbury, was named as a defendant in the fraud case
Former Nets guard Chris Douglas-Roberts (right) was named as a defendant along with ix-time All-Defensive team selection Tony Allen (left) and his wife Desiree
The retired players are accused of submitting fake reimbursement claims for both medical and dental work that they never actually received.
Some of the players were out of the country at the time they were supposed to be receiving the treatments, according to the complaint. Ultimately, the defendants filed $3.9 million in fraudulent claims, of which they have received $2.5 million, according to the indictment.
Williams is also accused of obtaining fake doctors notes for Watson, Wright and Davis and impersonating a claims processor. In one case, Williams allegedly filed a false reimbursement claim for $19,000 in chiropractic serves that he never received. The indictment says he received a $7,672.55 reimbursement.
The indictment says some players were asked to replay money for false claims, and a few already have.
A journeyman player, Jamario Moon's remarkable athleticism allowed him to team with LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2009 until 2011
A former first-round pick out of Louisville, Williams was derided for maturity issues during his career, such as tardiness and other infractions. He was also arrested in his native Washington state in 2013 when he allegedly showed a handgun to an ex-girlfriend during a scheduled visit with their 10-year-old son.
Davis was arrested in 2018 for drug possession and distribution after police found 126 grams of marijuana in a briefcase with $92,000 in cash at a Maryland hotel. Davis paid a $15,000 and prosecutors have not pursued charges.
Telfair has been arrested twice on gun charges, most recently in 2017 when he and another man were picked up during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. Police found marijuana and weapons.
He was eventually found guilty of felonious weapons possession and sentenced to three years in prison, but that case is currently under appeal.
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