>https://apnews.com/article/nba-sports-business-basketball-indictments-a785d565968ec3e50600baf67d9b64e3
>
>18 ex-NBA players charged in $4M health care fraud scheme
>By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TIM REYNOLDS
>
>
>NEW YORK (AP) — Eighteen former NBA players have been
>charged with defrauding the league’s health and welfare
>benefit plan out of about $4 million, according to an
>indictment Thursday in New York.
>
>Federal prosecutors planned a news conference to describe the
>case that was brought in Manhattan federal court. By late
>morning, 16 of the defendants were in custody, authorities
>said.
>
>According to the indictment, the ex-players engaged in a
>widespread scheme to defraud the plan by submitting false and
>fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental
>expenses that were never actually incurred.
>
>The 18 players were among 19 individuals charged in the
>indictment. It said that the scheme was carried out from at
>least 2017 to 2020, when the plan received false claims
>totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received
>about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds.
>
>A request for comment to the league wasn’t immediately
>returned.
>
>Among those charged was Anthony Allen, a six-time
>All-Defensive team selection and a member of the 2008 champion
>Boston Celtics. His wife was also indicted. 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.
>
>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. Ronald 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.
>
>Wroten averaged 11.1 points in 145 career games. Patterson
>averaged 10.7 points per game with six different teams. Miles,
>the No. 3 pick in the 2000 draft, averaged 10.1 points per
>game and played with four different franchises.
>
>___
>
>AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds is based in Miami.