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Federal authorities in October Indicted 18 former NBA players By defrauding the league’s health care plan of at least $5 million. According to the indictment, from 2017 to 2020, the players submitted false invoices to the NBA’s health benefits plan to reimburse them for services they did not receive from a chiropractor’s office, two dental offices and a “health protection office” that focused on “sexual health, anti-sexual health.” – Aging and general well-being.
Williams, 35, was a 2009 lottery draft pick who spent four years in the NBA before an extended stint overseas. Working with a dentist in California and a doctor in Washington state, Williams created fake invoices and distributed doctor’s letters to other former players for kickbacks, according to the indictment. The Justice Department said health care plan administrators and federal law enforcement caught a number of red flags, including grammatical errors and misspellings of patient names. Some of the players involved in the scheme allegedly submitted medical bills while out of state or out of the country, the lawsuit alleges.
Williams has recruited several players, including Sebastian Telfair, 37, a former Portland Trail Blazers player from 2004 to 2013 and seven other teams, and Glenn “Big Baby” Davis, 36, who led LSU to the Final Four in 2006 before the NBA. Work with the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers.
Williams was also found to have impersonated others as he did when he created an email account designed to impersonate a health plan administrator, the lawsuit alleges. According to the account, Williams allegedly tried to “intimidate” his co-defendant into paying him back.
Earlier this year, Williams was barred from sending a text threat to a witness while on pretrial release.
The health care and wire fraud conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Williams’ one count of aggravated identity theft carries a minimum sentence of two years in prison. As part of his guilty plea, the former Louisville player agreed to pay $2,500,000 to the NBA players’ health and welfare benefit plan. Williams, who will forfeit $653,672.55, is scheduled to be sentenced in January.
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