The United States charged ten National Football League (NFL) retirees with defrauding a health-care fund established by the league to reimburse former players for out-of-pocket medical expenses, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th December, 2019) The United States charged ten National Football League (NFL) retirees with defrauding a health-care fund established by the league to reimburse former players for out-of-pocket medical expenses, the US Department of Justice said in a press release on Thursday."According to the charging documents, over $3.9 million in false and fraudulent claims were submitted to the Plan, and the Plan paid out over $3.4 million on those claims between June 2017 and December 2018," the release said.
The Justice Department said the defendants allegedly submitted false claims for expensive medical equipment such as hyperbaric oxygen chambers and cryotherapy machines without purchasing the equipment.
The NFL set up the reimbursement plan in a 2006 collective bargaining agreement to provide for tax-free reimbursement of out-of-pocket medical care expenses that were not covered by insurance and were incurred by former players, their wives and their dependents, up to a maximum of $350,000 per player.
The release named five former NFL players who allegedly recruited at least five additional players into the scheme by offering to submit fraudulent claims in exchange for kickbacks that ranged from a few thousand Dollars to $10,000 or more per claim, according to the release.
