*Terrence Williams, an ex-NBA player who defrauded the NBA’s health and welfare program of more than $5 million, was sentenced to ten years in prison Thursday.
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: “Williams led a wide-ranging scheme to steal millions of dollars from the NBA Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. Williams recruited medical professionals and others to expand his criminal conspiracy and maximize his ill-gotten gains. Williams not only lined his pockets through fraud and deceit, but he also stole the identities of others and threatened a witness to further his criminal endeavors. For his brazen criminal acts, Williams now faces years in prison.”
Williams previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, “From at least 2017 through at least 2021, TERRENCE WILLIAMS and more than a dozen others engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the Plan by submitting and causing to be submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement of medical and dental services that were not actually rendered. Over the course of the scheme, the defendants submitted and caused to be submitted to the Plan false claims totaling at least approximately $5 million,” per the United States Attorney’s Office.
As part of Williams’ fraud, he offered to provide other health plan participants with false invoices to support fraudulent claims.
Along with prison time, Williams will have to pay more than $3.1 million in restitution and forfeitures.
In 2022, Williams was placed in custody for allegedly threatening a witness while on pretrial release.
As CBS Sports reports, citing the U.S Attorney’s Office, in a text message, Williams told the witness that they were “talking way to[o] f—–g much,” and to “shut the f–k up” and “me spitting in your face is exactly what you’ll see.”
Williams played four seasons in the NBA and last appeared in 2013.
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