Eighteen former NBA players arrested by US federal authorities in alleged health care scam

Eighteen former NBA players have been charged with defrauding the league's health and welfare benefit plan out of around $4m, according to an indictment on 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 totalling about $3.9m. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5m in fraudulent proceeds.

As first reported by NBC journalist Tom Winter, the indictment states that Terence Williams acted as ringleader and 'orchestrated' the plan to defraud the league. Williams, who played for the New Jersey Nets and three other teams between 2009 and 2013, recruited players by offering false invoices in exchange for kickbacks, which totalled at least $230,000.

He also helped three defendants procure bogus 'letters of medical necessity,' the indictment said.

Among those charged was Anthony 'Tony' 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, however, 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 professional and taken with the 13th pick of the 2004 draft, though his NBA career with eight franchises never brought the stardom some had expected.

Those charged also included four NBA champions. Ronald Glen 'Big Baby' Davis who, 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 and Miles, the No 3 pick in the 2000 draft, averaged 10.1 points per game and played with four different franchises.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.