NEW YORK — Former National Basketball Players Association vice president Keyon Dooling, who is currently an assistant coach with the Utah Jazz, was arrested Wednesday and added to a criminal case alleging 18 former NBA players were illegally spending millions of dollars by fraud having plugged in the league’s health and benefits plan.
The rewritten indictment added Dooling to the case, which was first brought in October when federal officials said a number of former NBA players collectively collected about $2.5 million from the benefit plan.
Dooling, who was a union official for eight years and eventually became its first vice president, was among three people added to the indictment on Wednesday. He spent portions of 13 seasons in the NBA as a member of seven different teams.
The Jazz said Dooling alerted the club to the charges on Wednesday morning and he was placed on paid administrative leave by the team.
“It is a case involving his time with the National Basketball Players Association before he joined our organization,” the Jazz said in a statement. “…Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we refrain from further comment.”
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Dooling was arrested in Utah on Wednesday, officials said.
The Jazz play Thursday at home Game 6 of their Western Conference first round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks.
Also added to the indictment were a doctor and a dentist, who officials said are medical providers who support the program.
Officials said Dooling was “allegedly involved in the plan and recruited other co-conspirators to join the plan.”
All have been charged with healthcare fraud and cable conspiracy for a scam that authorities say stretched from at least 2017 to 2020.
In October, a prosecutor said each defendant made false claims ranging from $65,000 to $420,000.
Wednesday’s updated indictment said Dooling illegally pocketed approximately $350,000 in plan proceeds. In all, about $5 million in false claims was filed, although claimants did not receive that much proceeds.
Dooling was previously the union’s wellness adviser and helped oversee the mental health and wellness department. He also wrote a book in 2014 in which, among other things, he talked about how he struggled with stress after being sexually abused as a child.
“Health is everything,” Dooling said in an interview after the book was published. “It has to be your top priority, health of all kinds, mind and body.”