Two former Fresno State basketball stars charged in allegedly defrauding NBA health care plan
Two former Fresno State basketball stars were among a group of ex-pro players charged Thursday with allegedly participating in a scheme that defrauded approximately $4 million from the NBA’s health care program.
Melvin Ely, who played for the Bulldogs from 1998-2002 and left at the time as the program’s all-time scoring leader, and Greg Smith, who played for Fresno State from 2009-2011 before leaving the university early to enter the NBA draft, were among 18 former NBA players charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud.
Ely and Smith, like the other ex-NBA players charged, face allegations of submitting false medical and dental invoices, as revealed in a 32-page indictment.
The players allegedly involved in the fraudulent scheme tried to claim between $65,000 to as much as $420,000 in medical service reimbursements, according to U.S. Attorney for the South District of New York Audrey Strauss.
“Travel records, email, GPS data and other evidence shows that the defendants who purportedly received medical and dental services at a location on a particular date were often nowhere near the providers offices when the claimed services were supposedly provided,” Strauss said.
In Ely’s case, the indictment claims the ex-Bulldogs star submitted a series of false invoices for treatment at a medical office in Washington state that specialized in “sexual health, anti-aging and general well-being” from March 2019 to January 2020.
Except, Ely was not in Washington during that stretch, the indictment alleges.
In all, the Chicago native Ely allegedly submitted $206,000 in claims for services never rendered, the indictment alleges.
Smith’s claims, as detailed in the the indictment, might have been even more inconceivable.
The former Edison High standout allegedly submitted claims for root canals and other dental procedures worth nearly $50,000 and conducted in Beverly Hills on Dec. 20, 2018.
One big problem: Smith was far from Beverly Hills, according to the indictment.
Investigators determined Smith was playing basketball in Taiwan that day and that there are box scores that served as evidence, Strauss said.
Other former NBA players charged in the healthcare scheme were:
- Terrence Williams
- Alan Anderson
- Anthony Allen
- Shannon Brown
- William Bynum
- Ronald Glen Davis
- Christopher Douglas-Roberts
- Jamario Moon
- Darius Miles
- Milton Palacio
- Ruben Patterson
- Eddie Robinson
- Sebastian Telfair
- Charles Watson Jr.
- Antoine Wright
- Anthony Wroten
Williams, who was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft, was named as the mastermind to the scheme and received at least $230,000 from 10 of the former players accused of participating in the scheme, according to the indictment.
The indictment also notes that in order to receive benefits from the health care program, players were required to have spent at least three seasons on an NBA team roster.
Ely, whose final year at Fresno State was also the final season under former coach Jerry Tarkanian, went on to get drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2002.
Ely spent 10 seasons in the NBA with stints also in Charlotte, San Antonio, New Orleans and Denver. His last season in the NBA was 2013-14 when he played two games.
Smith left Fresno State after two seasons, hoping to enjoy NBA Draft success just as his former Bulldogs teammate Paul George did the season prior.
But Smith went undrafted in 2011.
Still, the Fresno native managed to play in the NBA for five seasons, with stints in Houston, Dallas and Minnesota. His final NBA season was 2015-16.
This is not the first time star athletes with Fresno ties have become associated with fraud.
Mychal Kendricks, the former Hoover High football star who went on to play at Cal and then the NFL, pled guilty in 2018 to insider trading charges.
Kendricks went on to serve one day in jail with three years of probation and 200 hours of community service as part of his guilty plea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 10:23 PM.