Ex-Husky Guard Among 18 Accused in NBA Health Care Scandal

Tony Wroten played a season at the UW and four more in the pros.

In a scandal that has rocked the NBA, 18 former players on Thursday were charged in New York with collectively defrauding the league's health and welfare benefit plan of $2.5 million, including former University of Washington guard Tony Wroten and Seattle native Terrance Williams, a one-time Husky recruit.

Fifteen of the players were arrested in Washington state and eight others and accused of taking part in a scam that involved filing phony medical and dental expenses.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, offenses that carry potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison. 

Wroten was a 6-foot-5 guard and the son of a former UW football player with the same name who played basketball for the Huskies during the 2011-12 season only. After being named first-team All-Pac-12 and freshman of the year, he declared for the NBA draft. 

He spent four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 16.9 points per game in his third year and he last appeared in games during the 2015-16 season. 

Williams was a 6-foot-6 forward originally from Seattle's Rainier Beach High School who spurned the UW for Louisville and then was drafted No. 11 overall in 2009 by the New Jersey Nets. He played four seasons in the NBA before spending several seasons overseas, last playing pro basketball in 2015. 

Led by U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss, prosecutors in the indictment said the conspiracy was led orchestrated by Williams, who recruited other former NBA players to defraud the plan and offered to provide fake invoices from a chiropractor and dentist in Southern California and a wellness office in Washington state. At least 10 players paid kickbacks totaling $230,000 to Williams, according to the court papers.

The indictment said the scheme was carried out from 2017 to 2020, when the plan, funded primarily by NBA teams, received false claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the players received about $2.5 million in proceeds.

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