Ten ex-NFL players were charged in a scheme that allegedly defrauded the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account of nearly $4 million, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday.
Clinton Portis, Carlos Rogers, Robert McCune, John Eubanks, Tamarick Vanover, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Frederick Bennett, Etric Pruitt and Correll Buckhalter were charged in two separate indictments.
According to the indictment, the scheme allegedly operated by submitting false claims to the reimbursement account for expensive medical equipment that was never purchased. The ringleaders would find eligible players and offer to submit claims for them, and then fill out fraudulent claims for expensive medical equipment like hyperbaric oxygen chambers, ultrasound machines that are typically used on pregnant women, and electromagnetic therapy devices used on horses.