18 NBA Players Arrested: Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics, and former high school sensation Sebastian Telfair are among the defendants.
Officials said Thursday that eighteen former NBA players have been charged with attempting to cheat the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan of approximately $4 million.
Terrence Williams, Anthony Allen, Shannon Brown, William Bynum, Ronald Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Christopher Douglas-Roberts, 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 defendants.
Desiree Allen, Allen’s wife, was also listed as a defendant.
A case of conspiracy to conduct health-care fraud and wire fraud has been filed against those charged.
“The defendants’ playbook involved fraud and deception,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss told reporters. “They will have to answer for their flagrant violations of law.”
According to federal authorities in New York City, Strauss referred to Williams, a 34-year-old Seattle native who played four seasons in the NBA, as the “scheme’s cornerstone,” making bogus claims to the league’s health-care plan.
Authorities claimed he would allegedly provide phoney invoices to support the fraudulent claims in exchange for kickback payments totaling at least $230,000.
Officials claimed the athletes submitted $3.9 million in false claims, of which $2.5 million was paid out.
Authorities said the bogus medical treatments came from a chiropractic business, two dentistry offices, and a wellness office, and were scheduled on days when the athletes were out of the country.
According to the indictment, some of the false invoices and medical necessity papers stood out because “they are not on letterhead, they include odd formatting, and they have grammatical mistakes.”
Among the accused, Davis was one of the most well-known.
He was a fan favourite and a member of the last Boston Celtics world championship squad in 2008. He was 6 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed 289 pounds.
Telfair, the cousin of former NBA player and Chinese basketball legend Stephon Marbury, was well-known before ever stepping foot on a professional basketball court.
He was a standout high school player and the Portland Trail Blazers’ 13th overall choice in the NBA Draft in 2004.
By late Thursday morning, it was unclear whether any of the players had retained legal counsel.
Clinton Portis, Tamarick Vanover, and Robert McCune, all former NFL players, pled guilty last month to their involvement in a countrywide health-care fraud conspiracy and could face years in jail, according to the US Department of Justice.
According to the Justice Department, Portis, Vanover, and McCune confessed to cheating an NFL programme set up to pay retired players and their families for medical expenditures not covered by insurance.
Name Of The 18 Former NBA Players Charged
Terrence Williams: The scheme’s alleged orchestrator. Drafted 11th overall by the New Jersey Nets in 2009, he played with the Nets from 2009 to 2010 and got a triple-double against the Bulls on April 9, 2010 (27 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists). After that, his career took a nosedive, and he spent most of his time in the NBA D league and overseas.
Alan Anderson: From 2012 through 2017, he was a bench player for four NBA teams, including the Brooklyn Nets in 2013 and 2014.
Anthony Allen: Tony Allen was a first-round choice by Boston in 2004 and played for three clubs in 15 NBA seasons (Celtics, Grizzlies, and Pelicans). He was a key member of the Boston Celtics’ championship-winning squad in 2008. Desiree, his wife, is the only lady included in the federal indictment, which was released on Thursday.
Shannon Brown: Former Cleveland Cavaliers first-round pick in 2006. He won two NBA titles with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers (2009, 2010) as a crucial role player while playing alongside LeBron James in Cleveland. From 2006 to 2014, he was a member of eight NBA clubs, including the New York Knicks.
William Bynum: Played for three NBA teams but spent most of his career with the Detroit Pistons from 2008-2014.
Melvin Ely: Former 2002 1st round pick who played for five NBA teams from 2002-2011 and was part of the San Antonio Spurs 2007 NBA title team even though he never played in playoffs.
Christopher Douglas-Roberts: Goes by alias “Supreme Bey,” was drafted by the then-New Jersey Nets in 2008 and traded to the Bucks in 2010 but his career fizzled.
Anthony Wroten: Goes by “Tony,” was a 2012 first-round pick who played sparingly from 2012-2016 for Memphis and Philadelphia
Milton Palacio: Goes by Milt, played for six NBA teams from 1999 to 2006. He once beat the then-New Jersey Nets on a buzzer beater in 2000 but otherwise was more of an end-of-bench player
Sebastian Telfair: From Brooklyn’s Coney Island, played for nine NBA teams from 2004 to 2014
Antoine Wright: 2005 1st-round pick started NBA career with New Jersey Nets (2005-2008), mostly as bench player
Darius Miles: Draft third overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2000, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002 where he was a teammate of then-rookie LeBron James. He has acted in several movies
Ruben Patterson: Played for six different NBA teams from 1998 to 2007, known for his defense on the court
Eddie Robinson: Played for the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls from 1999 to 2004
Gregory Smith: Briefly played for three NBA teams in three seasons (2014 to 2016)
Ronald Glen Davis: Goes by “Glen” or “Big Baby,” started at LSU in college then became a key player for the Boston Celtics from 2007 to 2011, including winning a title in 2008. He played for three NBA teams in total between 2007 and 2015
Jamario Moon: Played for five NBA teams from 2007 to 2012, briefly hit highlight of career playing with Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James from 2009 to 2011
This is a developing story, please refresh here for updates.
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