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Clinton Portis and two other former NFL players plead guilty in multimillion-dollar health care fraud scheme


Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune admitted to collaborating in a scheme to rip-off the league’s retiree well being care advantages plan, which gives tax-free reimbursement to former gamers and their households for out-of-pocket medical bills that aren’t coated by insurance coverage, the division mentioned.

“McCune orchestrated the nationwide fraud, which resulted in roughly $2.9 million in false and fraudulent claims being submitted to the Plan and the Plan paying out roughly $2.5 million on these claims between June 2017 and April 2018,” the Justice Division mentioned.

Up to now, 15 former gamers have pleaded responsible to expenses associated to the scheme, prosecutors mentioned.

McCune, 40, pleaded responsible to a number of expenses on August 24. The previous linebacker who was on the rosters of Baltimore, Miami and Washington, will probably be sentenced on November 19.

McCune faces a most penalty of 20 years in jail for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and well being care fraud, 10 years for every rely of well being care fraud, 20 years for every rely of wire fraud, and two years for every rely of aggravated identification theft.

Portis, 40, and Vanover, 47, pleaded responsible Friday to conspiracy to commit well being care fraud and agreed to pay full restitution to the well being plan.

Portis, who reportedly earned greater than $43.1 million over his nine-year career with Denver and Washington, was identified for sporting colourful costumes, wigs and outsized sun shades in media interviews. However after retiring with almost 10,000 speeding yards, he filed for chapter and have become one in every of a startling variety of former NFL gamers who go broke after their taking part in careers.

Portis is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6.

Vanover, who spent five seasons as a kick returner and wide receiver with Kansas Metropolis and one with San Diego, is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22.
Tamarick Vanover was a wide receiver and kick returner for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1990s.

They every face a most penalty of 10 years in jail.

In response to the Justice Division information launch, Portis and Vanover pleaded responsible two days after a trial in opposition to them resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial on sure counts in opposition to Vanover. A retrial on the costs in opposition to Portis and Vanover had been scheduled to start Tuesday.

McCune, the third defendant, pleaded responsible to all expenses in opposition to him on the second day of trial.

“Mr. Vanover has accepted his duty on this case and can face no matter punishment the Court docket imposes,” his lawyer, Jeff Darling, instructed CNN. “He is able to get this ordeal behind him and cope with his personal well being points and transferring on along with his life.”

CNN has reached out to the attorneys for the opposite males however has not acquired a response.

How the scheme allegedly labored

The scheme, which lasted from June 2017 to December 2018, led to over $3.9 million in false and fraudulent claims, of which the plan paid out greater than $3.4 million, prosecutors said in 2019.

The Gene Upshaw NFL Participant Well being Reimbursement Account Plan was established as a part of the 2006 collective bargaining settlement between the NFL and the NFL Gamers’ Affiliation.

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In response to the indictments, the previous gamers submitted phony claims for costly gear, together with hyperbaric oxygen chambers, ultrasound machines designed for a physician’s workplace to conduct ladies’s well being exams, and electromagnetic remedy gadgets for horses.

The claims have been for about $40,000 to $50,000 every, prosecutors mentioned. They relied on fabricated invoices, prescriptions and letters of medical necessity, prosecutors mentioned.

As well as, some defendants recruited different retired gamers to take part within the scheme in trade for kickbacks and bribes that ranged from just a few thousand {dollars} to $10,000 or extra per declare, prosecutors mentioned.

McCune and Buckhalter even referred to as the well being advantages plan’s telephone line and impersonated different gamers to test on the standing of the claims, the Justice Division mentioned in 2019.

Medical insurance firm Cigna flagged anomalies within the forms of claims being filed and referred the fraud to federal investigators, then-Assistant Legal professional Basic Brian Benczkowski mentioned.

CNN’s Eric Levenson and Jill Martin contributed to this report.



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