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Former star running back Clinton Portis and nine other ex-players are facing fraud charges revolving around the NFL's health program. The players are accused of filing more than $3.9 million in fraudulent claims with most of them being paid out between June 2017 to December 2018.
“Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multimillion-dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski via ESPN. “Today's indictments underscore that, whoever you are, if you loot health care programs to line your own pockets, you will be held accountable by the Department of Justice.”
Robert McCune, John Eubanks, Tamarick Vanover, Carlos Rogers, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Fredrick Bennett, Correll Buckhalter, Etric Pruitt, and Joe Horn are the other players being charged.
The players would make claims for expensive medical equipment such as ultrasound machines or hyperbaric oxygen chambers but would never actually purchase or receive the devices. The claims were usually between $40,000 or $50,000.
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It's unclear who started the ring, but former players were recruiting other retired players to make claims and they would receive some sort of kickback, usually around $10,000 to do so.
Mark Dycio, an attorney for Portis said his client wasn't aware he was involved in something that was illegal, and they would prove that.
“Clinton Portis had no knowledge that his participation in what he believed to be an NFL sanctioned medical reimbursement program was illegal,” Dycio said via Adam Kilgore and Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. “He is completely taken aback by this indictment and will move forward with the process of clearing his good name and those of his fellow NFL alumni.”
Hopefully what Portis is saying is true or he and the rest of the former NFL players could be in some real trouble.
