Former Celtics Glen Davis, Tony Allen among 18 retired NBA players arrested, charged with fraud [masslive.com]

Nearly two-dozen former NBA players have been charged after an alleged health insurance fraud scheme — a list that includes multiple former Celtics.

The 18 former NBA players were charged in New York federal court, which was first reported by NBC. The indictment alleges that the defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. The players allegedly submitted fake claims for medical and dental services, where those services were never actually provided.

The defendants face a charge of conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud.

Those alleged claims totaled about $3.9 million, according to NBC, where the defendants got about $2.5 million of the total. The alleged scheme lasted from at least 2017 to around 2020, according to the indictment.

The 19 NBA players include eight former Celtics: Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Tony Allen, Milt Palacio, Darius Miles, Terrence Williams, Sebastian Telfair, Will Bynum and Christopher Douglas-Roberts. The alleged ringleader of the scheme, according to the indictment, is Williams.

Davis spent the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics, winning an NBA title as a rookie in 2008. He was a key member of the team’s 2010 appearance in the NBA Finals before spending the remainder of his career with the Magic and Clippers. He has had a number of run-ins with the law over the past five years.

Allen played the first six years of his career in Boston, serving as a key defensive role player off the bench during the team’s deep playoff runs from 2008-2010. The Memphis Grizzlies are set to retire his jersey number later this season after he spent seven seasons with them.

Palacio suited up for two seasons with Boston early in his career from 2000-2002. Telfair lasted just one year with the Green after being acquired in 2006 before he was sent to Minnesota as part of the blockbuster deal that landed Kevin Garnett with the Celtics in the summer of 2007. Williams was signed for the tail end of the 2012-13 season in Boston.

Bynum only spent 10 days with the Celtics over his eight-year career during NBA preseason in October 2014 after he was acquired in a deal for big man Joel Anthony. Boston cut him ahead of the start of the regular season. Douglas-Roberts was waived from the Celtics three days after the team acquired him in a three-team trade in January 2015. Miles signed with the Celtics for a training camp deal in 2008 but was waived before the start of the season.

The others named as defendants on the indictment are: Alan Anderson, Desiree Allen, Shannon Brown, Melvin Ely, Jamario Moon, Ruben Patterson, Eddie Robinson, Gregory Smith, C.J. Watson, Antoine Wright and Tony Wroten.

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