Terrence Williams Sentenced To 10 Years for Defrauding $5M NBA Health Care Scheme

Terrence Williams, a former NBA player, received a 10-year prison term for defrauding the league’s health insurance plan out of $5 million.

Terrence Williams, a former NBA player, received a 10-year jail term on Thursday for his part in a fraud scheme that defrauded the league’s health insurance plan of $5 million.

In August 2022, Williams, 36, who played for the New Jersey Nets and other teams, entered a plea of guilty to being the conspiracy’s architect. In order to submit fictitious invoices to the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan, which provides additional coverage to retired and former players, he enlisted the help of 18 other former players and a few dishonest medical professionals.

Williams was sentenced by Manhattan federal court judge Valerie Caproni, who also required him to pay more than $3.1 million in forfeitures and restitution.

Prosecutors claim that between 2017 and 2021, the 36-year-old and his co-defendants submitted false claims for medical and dental services that they never actually obtained.

They used invoices that were rife with mistakes and discrepancies, but they were nevertheless able to receive payment from the health care plan.

The native of Seattle bought the phoney bills from dishonest medical professionals and sold them to other ex-players in exchange for kickbacks. According to the prosecution, he made $346,000 through this fraud.

Williams reportedly made threats against his fellow defendants and a witness while posing as an insurance company representative.

According to the prosecution, he warned one co-defendant to pay him a “fine” or risk being found out for the fraud. After being detained and freed without bail in October 2021, he again yelled at a witness to “shut the f–k up” and accused them of “talking way to[to] f–king much.” When the judge found out about these threats, she revoked his bail.

Damiam Williams, the US attorney for Manhattan, called Williams’ actions “brazen.”

He said that Williams “led a complex scheme to defraud the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan” of millions of dollars.

He said, “Williams recruited doctors and other individuals to broaden his criminal conspiracy and maximise his unjust benefits.

Williams furthered his criminal activities by using deception and fraud in addition to stealing the identities of others and threatening a witness.

Sebastian Telfair, who grew up in Coney Island, was one of the other players who was reportedly involved in the fraud. During their NBA careers, the players who took part in the plan received a combined $360 million.