NEW YORK (AP) – Eighteen former NBA players have been charged with defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan of an estimated $ 4 million, according to an indictment Thursday in New York.

Federal prosecutors have scheduled a press conference to describe the case that has been taken to federal court in Manhattan. By late morning, 16 of the defendants were in custody, authorities said.

According to the indictment, the ex-players engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the plan by submitting bogus and fraudulent claims for reimbursement for medical and dental expenses that were never actually incurred.

The 18 players were among the 19 people indicted in the indictment. He said the program was implemented from at least 2017 to 2020, when the plan received false claims totaling around $ 3.9 million. Of this amount, the defendants received approximately $ 2.5 million in fraudulent products.

A request for comment from the league was not immediately returned.

Among those charged was Anthony Allen, six times selected for the All-Defensive team and a member of the 2008 Boston Celtics champion. His wife has also been charged. For the most part, however, the former indicted players have had journeyman careers playing for several different teams and never achieved the enormous fame or salary that top players command.

Another former player charged under the program was Sebastian Telfair, a former New York high school star who was highly touted when he turned pro, though his NBA career with eight franchises never brought the celebrity that some expected.

Those charged also included four NBA champions. Ronald Glen Davis, along with Allen, was part of that 2008 title team in Boston. Shannon Brown won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Melvin Ely won a title with San Antonio in 2007.

Among the other indicted, Anthony Wroten, Ruben Patterson and Darius Miles were the only players to have obtained a double-digit average for their NBA careers.

Wroten has averaged 11.1 points in 145 career games. Patterson averaged 10.7 points per game with six different teams. Miles, the No.3 pick in the 2000 draft, averaged 10.1 points per game and played with four different franchises.

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AP Basketball writer Tim Reynolds is based in Miami.