A criminal case in which 18 former NBA players were charged with illegally pocketing millions of dollars by defrauding the league has led to the arrest of a former National Basketball Players Association vice president.
In October, federal officials said a number of former NBA players collected about $2.5 million from the benefit plan.
The first vice president of the union was added to the indictment on Wednesday. He played for seven different teams in the NBA.
The Jazz placed him on paid administrative leave after he made the club aware of the indictment.
The Jazz said in a statement that it was a case about his time at the National Basketball Players Association. We will refrain from further comment due to the ongoing legal process.
Officials said that he was arrested in Utah.
Game 6 of the Jazz's Western Conference first-round playoff series will be played at home on Thursday.
A doctor and a dentist were added to the indictment.
Officials said that he allegedly engaged in the scheme and recruited other co-conspirators to join it.
All were charged with health care fraud and wire conspiracy for a fraud that spanned from at least 2017 to 2020.
Each of the defendants made false claims that ranged from $65,000 to $420,000, according to a prosecutor.
The indictment said that about $350,000 of the plan proceeds were illegally taken. It said that about $5 million in false claims were submitted.
The union had a mental health and wellbeing department. He wrote a book about how he struggled with stress after being sexually abused as a child.
In an interview after the book came out, Dooling said that health is everything.
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