Author: Monojit Mandal
Former NBA star Tony Allen has been sentenced to community service and strict supervision rather than jail time as a result of his involvement in a $5 million health care fraud scheme. Allen’s role in the illegal conduct included recording $420,000 in false health bills.
According to Pete Brush of Law360, Allen was able to return most of the $420,000 he illegally earned before his formal trial. According to The Athletic, in April, the former NBA player pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Allen publicly acknowledged his own guilt and expressed his understanding of the gravity of his actions on the day of his sentencing. “As a member of the NBA community,” he said, “I stopped defending our core values.”
It’s worth noting, as Brush pointed out, that Allen is among the few NBA players who have avoided prison in connection with extensive fraudulent activities. Meanwhile, the orchestrators of the scheme, a total of three participants, were sentenced to prison. Terrence Williams, the mastermind of the scheme, was sentenced to ten years in prison. Brush identified Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson as “active participants”, and both received lighter sentences for their involvement.
The larger scheme comprised a total of 18 former NBA players who were accused of submitting false claims for medical and dental expenses between 2017 and 2020. According to The Athletic, “Williams recruited other benefit plan participants into the scheme by offering to provide them with fake invoices to support their fraudulent claims.” Invoices were sent to Williams by medical specialists, including a dentist in California and doctors in California and Washington, among other means. Williams received at least $300,000 in bribes in exchange for his involvement.
In addition to the prison sentence, Williams was ordered to forfeit around US$650,000 and pay US$2.5 million in restitution.Shannon Brown, Melvin Ely, Sebastian Telfair and Glen “Big Baby” Davis are all named as suspects in the plot.Throughout his successful professional career, Tony Allen, now 41, has been recognized as one of the NBA’s best defenders. Allen, a six-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection, helped the Boston Celtics win the title in 2007-08 and was a key component of the Memphis Grizzlies “Grit and Grind” in the 2010s.