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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Five former Celtics were among the 18 ex-NBA players indicted in an alleged healthcare fraud scheme worth nearly $4 million on Thursday afternoon. The charges were announced Thursday afternoon by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
The U.S. Attorney there, Audrey Strauss, said those indicted in the case submitted false insurance invoices for dental and medical work they hadn't actually received. She described Terrance Williams, who did a brief stint with the Celtics in the 2012-2013 season, as the "lynchpin" of the plan.
Two of the more notable former Celtics players indicted were Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tony Allen, both on the Celtics' 2008 Championship team.
The scheme allegedly started around November 2017.
Strauss said Williams distributed the fake invoices to the the rest of the players in the ring, and they all allegedly submitted the invoices to the NBA Health and Welfare Benefit Plan, which is mostly funded by NBA teams. Prosecutors said the health plan cashed out many of the fake invoices, and that the players successfully cheated the league out of about $2 million.
Prosecutors say in return for giving them the invoices, the players gave Williams approximately $230,000 in kickbacks.
The defendants are all charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, with Williams charged with aggravated identity theft as well.
The other two Celtics charged in the indictment were Milt Palacio and Sebastian Telfair. Prosecutors said they had arrested 16 of the 19 defendants as of Thursday afternoon.
Tony Davis' wife Desiree Allen was the only non-NBA player, charged in the indictment.
WBZ's Carl Stevens (@carlwbz) has more:
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