Weird news from the world of the NBA, as 18 former players have been arrested on fraud charges related to the NBA’s health and welfare plan.
NBC News reporter Tom Winter had the news on Twitter:
BREAKING: 18 former NBA players have been arrested and charged federally for defrauding the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan out of approximately $4,000,000, law enforcement officials say.
Reported by @jonathan4ny
and me.— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) October 7, 2021
Some of the players indicted:
More former players:
– Terrence Williams
– Alan Anderson
– Tony Allen
– Shannon Brown
– William Bynum
– Melvin Ely
– Christopher Douglas-Roberts
– Tony Wroten(2/2)
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) October 7, 2021
As to the details of the scam found in the indictment, here’s the piece from NBC New York, including that Terrence Williams was the alleged ringleader:
According to the grand jury indictment, the defendants allegedly engaged in a widespread scheme from at least 2017 up to around 2020 to defraud the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan by submitting fake reimbursement claims for medical and dental services that were never actually rendered.
Those allegedly fraudulent claims totaled about $3.9 million, from which the defendants got about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds, the indictment alleges.
Williams allegedly orchestrated the years-long scheme and recruited other NBA health plan participants to assist by offering them fake invoices to support their allegedly false health plan claims. He is accused of receiving kickback payments totaling at least $23,000 in return for providing the alleged false documentation.
It’s a very, very weird story overall, of course, but the names involved reading like a real “Let’s Remember Some Guys” post lend the entire story an even odder feel.
