Former NBA players Davis and Bynum convicted in $5m insurance fraud
Former Boston Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis and ex-Detroit Piston Will Bynum were convicted by a New York jury on Wednesday in a scheme that prosecutors say defrauded an insurance plan for NBA players and their families of more than $5m.
Davis, 37, who won the NBA championship in 2008 with the Celtics and , was convicted on four counts including wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiring to commit fraud, and conspiring to make false statements. Bynum, 40, was found guilty of conspiring to make false statements, but acquitted on a fraud conspiracy charge.
More than 20 people have been convicted in the case, many of them onetime NBA players who submitted fictitious dental and medical claims to the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan.
A dentist, a doctor and a chiropractor were also implicated in the fraud scheme, with charges first announced in October 2021
Examples of the alleged fraudulent medical procedures included Davis and another player receiving crowns on the same six teeth on the same day, and Davis receiving crowns on eight teeth in Beverly Hills even though he was in Nevada.
Bynum was accused of receiving about $182,000 on a fraudulent claim related to a chiropractic office in Encino, California, and paying Williams a $30,000 kickback.
Terrence Williams, a 2009 firstround draft pick of the New Jersey Nets, was sentenced in August to a decade in prison as a ringleader of the scheme.
“Today’s conviction exemplifies that despite notoriety or success in sports or any other field, no one is exempt from criminal charges if they engage in fraud,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Prosecutors said doctors and dentists working with the players created fraudulent invoices that were submitted to the supplemental insurance plan for reimbursement.
Bynum’s lawyer Victor Henderson said in a statement: “We are pleased that the jury acquitted Mr Bynum of the first count and plan to explore all aspects relating to the second count.”