A huge group of former NBA players were arrested on federal insurance fraud and wire fraud charges after law enforcement discovered a plan by the group to defraud the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan of $4 million.
16 former NBA players indicted on allegations of insurance fraud
This story is emerging.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The list of players, revealed by a Twitter user posting a photo of the official court document, contains the following names:
- Terrence Williams
- Alan Anderson
- Anthony Allen
- Desiree Allen
- Shannon Brown
- William Bynum
- Ronald Glen 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
- Anthony Wroten
Terrance Williams, who was drafted by the Nets in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft, is named as the “ring leader” in a report by NBC News. The plan allegedly circulated on filing reimbursement claims for medical and dental services, which were never rendered. Williams also allegedly pretended to be a health care provider when speaking about the plan to ensure payments were made to the group.
One of the ways investigators learned of the alleged crimes was, well ... hilarious.
We are in the very early stages of this story emerging, but the charge of Federal Insurance Fraud under 18 U.S. Code § 1033 potentially carries a prison term of up to 15 years, while the charge of Wire Fraud under 18 U.S. Code § 1343 is more serious, potentially carrying a sentence of up to 20 years.
We will continue to update this story as information is made available.
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