Houston Chronicle

Former players hit with fraud charges

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WASHINGTON — Ten former NFL players were charged in a multimilli­ondollar scheme to defraud the league’s health care benefit program by submitting false claims for medical equipment, including devices used on horses, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The players were charged in two separate indictment­s filed in federal court in Kentucky, accusing them of conspiracy, wire fraud and healthcare fraud. Prosecutor­s allege they submitted nearly $4 million in phony claims, leading to payouts of about $3.4 million between June 2017 and December 2018.

Those charged include five ex-players with Washington, including Clinton Portis and Carlos Rogers.

Prosecutor­s allege the players targeted the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursem­ent Account Plan, which was establishe­d as part of a collective bargaining agreement in 2006. It provides taxfree reimbursem­ent of out-of-pocket medical care expenses that were not covered by insurance and that were incurred by former players, their spouses and dependents.

The players claimed to have purchased hyperbaric oxygen chambers, ultrasound machines and electromag­netic therapy devices that were designed to be used on horses, he said.

Prosecutor­s say the group’s alleged ringleader­s, Robert McCune and Correll Buckhalter — who they allege broke off to create his own similar ring — would recruit former players by offering to submit fake claims to the health care plan. The ringleader­s would then demand thousands of dollars in kickbacks for each fake claim, prosecutor­s allege.

Four of the suspects, McCune, Rogers, John Eubanks and Ceandris Brown, were arrested Thursday morning by the FBI. Six others had agreed to surrender to authoritie­s, the Justice Department said. They are: James Butler, Fredrick Bennett, Etric Pruitt, Tamarick Vanover, Portis and Buckhalter.

The Justice Department has also filed court papers in Kentucky noting that it plans to file charges against two other players as well, including Joe Horn, a four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints, and Donald “Reche” Caldwell.

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