New York City, New York criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged for their roles in a scheme to defraud the National Basketball Association ("NBA”) Players' Health and Welfare Benefit Plan (the "Plan”).

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U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "These former players (Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson) recruited others to take part in this widespread fraud scheme and went to great lengths to keep the scheme running smoothly, facilitating hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraudulent claims. This Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those engaged in health care fraud schemes, no matter what their profession. Those considering submitting false claims to health care plans should recognize that they will be subject to serious penalties.”



According to the Indictments, public court filings, and statements made in court:



The Plan is a health care plan providing benefits to eligible active and former players of the NBA. DOOLING and ANDERSON both played in the NBA and were eligible to receive reimbursements from the Plan for legitimate, qualifying medical expenses.



Co-defendant TERRENCE WILLIAMS orchestrated the scheme to defraud the Plan.[1] DOOLING and ANDERSON also occupied managerial roles in the scheme.



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 particular chiropractic office in California, run by co-defendant PATRICK KHAZIRAN,[2] which were created by individuals working with WILLIAMS. 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. The 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 participated in the scheme from at least in or about 2017 through in or about 2019. DOOLING traded on his reputation among current and former NBA players to refer other former NBA players to co-defendant KHAZIRAN and WAHAB. DOOLING also recruited and attempted to recruit additional Plan-participants and medical professionals into the fraud scheme. DOOLING himself submitted fraudulent invoices to the Plan, relating to services purportedly performed by co-defendants KHAZIRAN and WAHAB. 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.



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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.



Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.



The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan B. Finkel and Daniel G. Nessim are in charge of the prosecution.



18:1349.F ATTEMPT AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT HEALTH CARE FRAUD AND WIRE FRAUD

(1)

18:1349.F ATTEMPT AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT WIRE FRAUD AND HEALTH CARE FRAUD

(1s)

18:371.F CONSPIRACY TO MAKE FALSE STATEMTNTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE MATTERS

(2s)

WILLIAMS has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and health care fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.



On February 7, 2023, Judge Caproni sentenced KHAZIRAN to 30 months in prison.