A total of eighteen former players have been arrested, charged with defrauding the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan out of nearly $4 million.
An indictment on Thursday claims the players participated in a joint scheme to steal money from the plan by cashing in on faked dental and medical procedures. The plan allegedly grew from a fraudulent claim submitted by Terrence Williams in November 2017 for chiropractic care costing $19,000. He received a payout through the plan of $7,672.
The scheme expanded from there, with Williams giving other players fake invoices from a chiropractor and dentist in California and a wellness office in Washington state. In return, they paid him a portion of the money they claimed in reimbursements.
The money lost in false claims currently stands at around $3.9 million. 19 people stand accused in the indictment, 18 of whom are former players, and 16 of whom were taken into custody on Thursday morning.
Jamario Moon, Glen Davis, Tony Allen and Allen’s wife are also amongst the accused. Both Davis and Allen earned $30 million from their salaries during their time as players. However, most of the rest of the accused moved around several NBA teams and never reached the big bucks earned by the league’s top stars.
