With a new net worth of -$5 million as of January 2022, according to Celebrity Net Worth, let’s suppose ‘the more the merrier’ was the repetitive chant echoing inside Clinton Portis’s head when he decided to defraud the NFL medical program designed to help retired players pay for their medical expenses, supplies, and equipment not covered by insurance. The initiative established by the league was known as the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Reimbursement Account Plan According to TMZ, the former Redskins running-back was sentenced on Thursday, January 6th to six months in a federal jail for obtaining medical equipment from the program that he did not require. In addition to the six-month sentence, he is also subjected to six months of home confinement, as well as three years of probation.
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Portis did not act alone in his scheme. It is reported that the former NFL superstar is just one out of over a dozen other ex-NFL players who participated in the fraudulent attempt. Their game plan included inventing fake claims of health problems to secure expensive medical equipment, like hyperbaric oxygen chambers, which are used to boost the body’s natural healing process. Ultrasound machines were also among the medical properties added to the retirement plan. Reports claim that Portis cashed in over $100,000 worth after their tax-exempt reimbursement.
Other former NFL players involved in the scheme were Robert McCune, who played for the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, and Cleveland Browns, and Tamarick Vanover who played for the Kansa City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers.
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Lending from an AP News article, McCune was the brains behind the entire operation and could be facing life in prison for filing approximately $2.9 million in fraudulent claims, $2.5 million of which were paid out between June 2017 and April 2018. Apparently, a million-dollar NFL check wasn’t enough for these heavy-hitters.
But what could make a man like Portis, who is said to have made over $40 million over the course of his NFL career, want to risk his freedom and reputation by being involved in such as sneaky plot? The answer may stem all the way from 2012 when Portis was forced to retire after the Redskins did not renew his deal. Then, he lost a huge chunk of $8 million casino bet. Then, there was the $150,000 in child support he was forced to pay. Despite his best efforts, Portis’s attempt to make a huge killing backfired tremendously.
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Sources: TMZ, AP News
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