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Federal prosecutors have brought charges against 18 former NBA players for allegedly defrauding the league’s health and welfare plan between 2017 and 2020.
According to authorities, 16 of the 18 are in custody after a series of arrests around the US. They face charges of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud, along with aggravated identity theft.
Terrence Williams, 34, is seen as a key figure in the alleged scheme.
In total, 19 people were charged in the indictment, which proposes the defendants filed $3.9m (£2.9m) in false medical and dental claims and received $2.5m (£1.8m) in payouts.
Williams, the 11th overall pick by the then-New Jersey Nets in 2009, allegedly filed $19,000 (£13,900) in claims in November 2017 for chiropractor care and received a $7,672 (£5,641) payout.
According to the indictment, he later recruited other players who provided fake invoices from a Washington state wellness clinic along with a chiropractor and a dentist in Southern California.
Some of the players reportedly then funnelled a portion of the money they received back to Williams.
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