“The defendants’ playbook involved fraud and deception,”
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss told a news conference after FBI agents across the
country arrested 15 ex-players and one of their wives in a three-year
conspiracy that authorities say started in 2017.
According to an indictment returned in Manhattan federal
court, the ex-players teamed up to defraud the supplemental coverage plan by
submitting fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental
procedures that never happened.
Strauss said prosecutors have travel records, email and GPS
data that proves the ex-players were sometimes far from the medical and dental
offices at the times when they were supposedly getting treated.
In one instance, she said, an ex-player was playing
basketball in Taiwan when he was supposedly getting $48,000 worth of root
canals and crowns on eight teeth at a Beverly Hills, California, dental office
in December 2018.
The indictment said the scheme was carried out from at least
2017 to 2020, when the plan — funded primarily by NBA teams — received false
claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5
million in fraudulent proceeds.
Strauss said each defendant made false claims for
reimbursements that ranged from $65,000 to $420,000.
In a statement, the NBA called the allegations “particularly
disheartening” because the benefit plans provided by the NBA and the National
Basketball Players Association are critically important to support players’
health and well-being throughout their careers and post-retirement lives.
“We will cooperate fully with the U.S. Attorney Office in
this matter,” the statement added.
Michael J. Driscoll, the head of New York’s FBI office, said
the case demonstrated the FBI’s continued focus on uncovering fraud scams that
cost the health care industry tens of billions of dollars a year.
Strauss said the conspiracy was led by Terrence Williams,
who began his career as a first-round NBA draft pick in 2009. The indictment
said he submitted $19,000 in fraudulent claims to the plan in November 2017 for
chiropractic care. The claims led to a $7,672 payout for Williams.
The indictment said he then recruited other former NBA
players to defraud the plan and offered to provide fraudulent invoices from a
chiropractor and dentist in Southern California and a wellness office in
Washington state.
At least 10 of the ex-players paid kickbacks totaling about
$230,000 to Williams, according to the court papers. A lawyer who has
represented Williams in the past declined to comment.
What was then the New Jersey Nets picked Williams as No. 11
in the 2009 draft. He went on to play with four franchises — the Nets, Boston,
Houston and Sacramento — over four seasons as a role player, averaging 7.1
points per game. He was waived by Boston two days after his 26th birthday in
2013 and hasn’t appeared in the league since.
Among others charged was Tony Allen, a six-time
All-Defensive team selection and a member of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics.
His wife was also indicted. Tony Allen was not in custody as of Thursday
afternoon. The Memphis Grizzlies announced weeks ago that they plan to retire
Allen’s number at a Jan. 28 game versus the Utah Jazz.
For the most part, though, the ex-players charged had
journeyman careers playing for several different teams and never reached
anywhere close to the enormous stardom or salary that top players command.
Still, the 18 players combined to make $343 million in their
on-court NBA careers, not counting outside income, endorsements or what any may
have made playing overseas.
Strauss declined to speculate on their motivations or
financial situations, saying to do so would go beyond the facts in the
indictment.
Another former player charged in the scheme was Sebastian
Telfair, a one-time high school star in New York who was highly touted when he
turned pro, though his NBA career with eight franchises never brought the
stardom some had expected.
Those charged also included four NBA champions. Glen Davis,
along with Allen, was part of that 2008 title team in Boston. Shannon Brown won
two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Melvin Ely won a title with
San Antonio in 2007.
Among others who were charged, Anthony Wroten, Ruben
Patterson and Darius Miles were the only players who averaged double figures
for their NBA career.
Arrests occurred in Washington state, California, New York,
Alabama, Illinois, Florida, Nevada, Georgia and Tennessee.
All were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud
and wire fraud, which carries the potential penalty of up to 20 years in
prison.
Williams was also charged with aggravated identity theft,
which carries a potential penalty of up to two years in prison.
Strauss said the charge was lodged because Williams tried to
frighten a co-defendant into paying a kickback by impersonating an employee
from the health plan’s administrative manager, claiming there was an issue with
an invoice that might require the co-defendant to pay back money he’d received.
It wasn’t immediately clear who might represent any of the
accused players in court or comment on their behalf.
There was no immediate response to efforts to contact Ely,
Miles, or Patterson through attorneys or entities that have been associated
with them, or to emails sent to possible addresses for the Allens.
No working phone number or email address could immediately
be found for Davis, Wroten or Telfair, and a lawyer who previously represented
Telfair said the player hadn’t contacted him.
The charges came just weeks after former NFL players Clinton
Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune pleaded guilty for their roles in a
nationwide health care fraud scheme. -AP
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