Eighteen former NBA players have been charged with defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan out of about $4 million, according to an indictment Thursday.
 
Federal prosecutors planned a news conference to describe the case that was brought in Manhattan federal court. It wasn't immediately clear whether all those charged had been arrested.
 
The list of former players included Jamario Moon, Glen Davis and Sebastian Telfair. Telfair, 36, was a star while playing at Lincoln High School in Coney Island and was a first-round pick back in 2004. He was convicted in 2019 in Brooklyn on charges of weapon possession and sentenced to three and a half years in prison, but was released on bail shortly after as he appealed his conviction.

According to the indictment, the ex-players engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the plan by submitting false and fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental expenses that were never actually incurred. It was led by Terrence Williams, a first round pick of the Nets back in 2009.
 
The 18 players were among 19 individuals charged in the indictment. It said that the scheme was carried out from at least 2017 to 2020, when the plan received false claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds.
 
The league's major stars weren't charged.