Former NBA players Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson were sentenced to 30 months and 24 months in prison this month, for their roles in a scheme to defraud the National Basketball Association Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. Co-defendant Terrence Williams orchestrated the scheme to defraud the Plan. Williams has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and health care fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.

The Plan is a health care plan providing benefits to eligible active and former players of the NBA. Since Dooling and Anderson both played in the NBA and were eligible to receive reimbursements from the Plan for legitimate, qualifying medical expenses. Williams, Dooling, and Anderson recruited other former NBA players to defraud the Plan, including by offering to provide them with false invoices to support their fraudulent claims.

Williams provided the other former NBA players fake invoices from a chiropractic office in California, run by co-defendant Patrick Khaziran a/k/a “Dr. Pat,” which were created by individuals working with Williams. Khaziran pled guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and was sentenced to 30 months in prison on February 7, 2023 .

In addition, Williams obtained fraudulent invoices from a dentist affiliated with dental offices in Beverly Hills, California, run by co-defendant Aamir Wahab, and from a doctor at a wellness office in Washington State.

According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the scandal enmeshed 17 other ex-NBA players including former Lakers guard Shannon Brown and former Clippers players Darius Miles, Glen Davis, Ruben Patterson and Sebastian Telfair.

The fraud began when Williams submitted a false $19,000 invoice in 2017 that looked like a legitimate claim from Khaziran’s office. The claim was billed to the NBA players’ health and welfare benefit plan.

The invoice netted him $7,672.55 – enough to whet his appetite for more. Williams recruited more players with the help of Dooling and another former NBA player, Alan Anderson.

The subsequent fraudulent invoices purported to document that Anderson, other co-defendants, and, in some cases, members of their families, had been recipients of expensive medical and dental services, but the defendants had not received the medical or dental services described in the invoices Williams provided them.

In many instances, the defendants were not even located in the vicinity of the service providers on the dates the invoices stated they received medical or dental services. In particular, GPS location information and documentary evidence, such as flight records, show that the defendants were in locations other than the vicinity of the medical or dental offices falsely claimed as the providers of services.

Dooling received approximately $363,000 in fraudulent reimbursements, and he is responsible for facilitating the fraudulent claims filed by other defendants, who received approximately $194,295 in fraudulent proceeds from the plan.

Anderson also recruited multiple former NBA players to the fraud scheme. When co-conspirators encountered difficulties in obtaining reimbursements for fraudulent claims, Anderson encouraged them to submit forged letters of medical necessity to substantiate those claims. When those letters were unsuccessful, Anderson arranged for the co-conspirators to visit a Las Vegas doctor, after-hours, to further attempt to justify the fraudulent claims.

Anderson himself submitted approximately $121,000 in fraudulent claims to the Plan. Anderson is also responsible for recruiting and facilitating the fraud of additional defendants who sought approximately $710,000 in fraudulent claims.

The scheme widened with more health professionals, including a Washington state physician, Dr. William Washington, and a Beverly Hills cosmetic dentist Aamir Wahab – whose practice, the Unforgettable Smile, pitches itself as a home for celebrities.

In addition to their prison terms, Dooling, 42, of Orlando, Florida, was ordered to forfeit $449,250.50 and pay restitution of $547,495; and Anderson, 40, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was ordered to forfeit $121,000 and pay restitution of $121,000.