A group of 18 former NBA players have been accused and charged of defrauding the league’s health and wellness benefit program out of roughly $4 million, according to a court indictment.
The charges were revealed on Thursday as most of the league’s teams get set to begin their second preseason game.
As the Associated Press reports:
Federal prosecutors planned a news conference to describe the case that was brought in Manhattan federal court. It wasn’t immediately clear whether all those charged had been arrested.
The list of former players included Jamario Moon, Glen Davis and Sebastian Telfair.
According to the indictment, the ex-players engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the plan by submitting false and fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental expenses that were never actually incurred.
The 18 players and one other individual involved in the scheme are reported to have received $2.5 million of the nearly $4 million in false claims.
The league’s regular season gets underway on October 20th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.