Glenn Davis, left, and Tony Allen during Game Seven of the NBA Finals, June 17, 2010. Jim Davis/The Boston Globe, File
By Larry Neumeister and Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
October 7, 2021 | 11:45 AM
New York (AFP) – Eighteen former NBA players have been charged with defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan of nearly $4 million, according to an indictment Thursday in New York.
Federal prosecutors planned to hold a press conference to describe the case, which was filed in Manhattan federal court. By late morning, authorities said, 16 of the accused were in custody.
According to the indictment, the former players engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the plan by filing false and fraudulent claims for compensation for medical and dental expenses that were not actually incurred.
The 18 players were among the 19 people indicted. She said the scheme ran from at least 2017 to 2020, when the scheme received false claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds.
A request for comment on the league was not immediately answered.
Among the accused was Anthony “Tony” Allen, a six-time All-Defensive team member and a member of the 2008 Boston Celtics champ. His wife also charged. For the most part, though, the former players who were assigned had seasoned jobs playing for several different teams and never got anywhere near the massive stardom or salary of top players.
Another former player accused in the scheme was Sebastian Telfer, a one-time New York high school star who was heavily nominated when he turned professional, though his NBA career with eight franchises didn’t bring about the stardom some expected.
Among the accused are four NBA champions. Ronald Glenn Davis, along with Allen, was part of the 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.
All former Celtics players have charged: Allen, Telfair, Davis, Terence Williams, and Milton “Milt” Palacio.
Among the others charged, Anthony, Rutin, Robin Patterson and Darius Miles were the only players to average double figures in 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.
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Associated Press basketball writer Tim Reynolds is based in Miami.