The NBA insurance fraud scandal took a while before getting a new update. It was in the last few months of 2023 when Glen Davis and Will Bynum faced the court and underwent due process. Now, sentences are being handed out and it looks like the former Detroit Pistons player will have to serve some time in prison.
Will Bynum has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, per ESPN. The ex-Pistons player was convicted of making false statements related to NBA players in regards to their false dental and medical claims. These claims were allegedly made under the NBA Players' Health and Benefit Welfare plan. He and Glen Davis were not the only players who got convicted of this. More than 200 players who were in the association at one point had to deal with the same case.
The time in jail is not the only thing that Will Bynum has to deal with. He also had to pay restitution which was worth $182,000 and was also asked to forfeit the same amount.
It only got worse for the former Pistons player when he underwent trial. The first issue was that they were able to uncover more details about the NBA insurance fraud scandal. Apparently, he along with other former players like Keyon Dooling and Terrence Williams attempted to defraud the said plan. This was carried out roughly six years ago. What happened was that Dooling got sentenced to 30 months while Williams had to deal with this headache for 10 years.
The other issue was that he got caught with obstruction of justice and perjury in the court. Bynum had lied under oath and it even prompted a statement from Atty. Damian Williams, ” [Bynum] lied to the jury while under oath. His sentence stands as a stark warning that prison time awaits any who seek to defraud and obstruct justice.”
How did the ex-Pistons player get involved?
A good example to illustrate how bad the situation was when Bynum filed fake invoices. He got documents that made it seem like he used up $200,000 in a chiropractor down in Los Angeles. The former Pistons player never really got any procedure done nor availed of any services of the like. This was the same thing that they kept doing, albeit with different types of services.
This NBA insurance fraud scandal has negatively affected the image of a lot of former players. Now, they face big criminal charges and have to deal with the consequences. Their families are also affected due to their decisions. Hopefully, nothing of the like happens again in the future such that these retired players may get to enjoy their benefits without having to commit any sort of fraud.
Bynum's career
Bynum played college basketball in Arizona from 2001 to 20023 then transferred to Georgia Tech for his junior and senior seasons. The six-foot guard was an NCAA All-Tournament and All-ACC selection which netted him a spot on an NBA team. He started out with the Golden State Warriors then came back to the NBA with the Pistons for six seasons before ending his career with the Washington Wizards.
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