A grand jury in New York has convicted former NBA players of bilking the basketball league’s health care plan of millions of dollars while trying to recruit other players to join the scheme.
Among those found guilty were Ronald Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who played eight seasons in the NBA and won a championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics, and William Bynum, who last played in 2015 for the Washington Wizards.
According to federal prosecutors, Davis and the other players conspired with California dentist Aamir Wahab and William Washington, a doctor in Washington state, between 2017 and 2021 to submit fake medical and dental bills for reimbursement, even though the services were not actually done.
“While many of the more than 20 defendants convicted in this case were well-known NBA stars, their conduct was otherwise a typical fraudulent scheme designed to defraud the NBA’s health care plan and net the defendants over $5 million in illicit profits,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Wednesday, adding that “despite notoriety or success in sports or any other field, no one is exempt from criminal charges if they engage in fraud.”
Terrence Williams, who played four seasons in the league, was sentenced in August to a decade in prison as the ringleader of the scheme.
Source: Former NBA stars convicted of defrauding the league’s health insurance of millions / CBS News