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Three former National Football League (NFL) players, Clinton Portis, Tamarick Vanover, and Robert McCune, have pleaded guilty to their roles in a nationwide scheme to defraud a health care benefit program for retired NFL players. The scheme, which took place between June 2017 and April 2018, resulted in approximately $2.9 million in false and fraudulent claims being submitted to the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan.
Portis, 40, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to the Plan on his behalf over a two-month period, obtaining $99,264 in benefits for expensive medical equipment that was not actually provided. Vanover, 47, of Tallahassee, Florida, recruited three other former NFL players into the fraudulent scheme and assisted them in causing false and fraudulent claims to be submitted to the Plan, obtaining $159,510 for expensive medical equipment that was not actually provided.
McCune, 40, of Riverdale, Georgia, orchestrated the nationwide fraud, which resulted in approximately $2.5 million in payments from the Plan. The former players admitted to participating in a scheme to defraud the health care benefit program, which was established pursuant to the NFL’s 2006 collective bargaining agreement.
The scheme was investigated by the FBI, with efforts by various FBI Field Offices and Resident Agencies. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier IV for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office made the announcement.
Portis and Vanover pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and agreed to pay full restitution to the Plan. Portis is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 6, 2022, and Vanover is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22, 2022. They each face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. McCune pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, 13 counts of health care fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Twelve other defendants charged in the scheme have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, including former NFL players Joseph Horn, Correll Buckhalter, Carlos Rogers, James Butler, Etric Pruitt, Ceandris Brown, John Eubanks, Antwan Odom, Darrell Reid, Anthony Montgomery, Fredrick Bennett, and Donald “Reche” Caldwell, who passed away in June 2020.
Key Facts
- State: Kentucky
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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