Former NBA Player Sentenced In Missouri to 6 Years in Federal Prison for Charity Fraud Scheme, Filing False Tax Returns

A former professional basketball player was sentenced to six years in federal prison Monday on charges related to an extensive charity fraud scheme.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division.

Kermit Alan Washington, 66, of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Washington to pay $967,158 in restitution. Washington was taken into federal custody at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing.

“This former NBA player abused his fame and status to promote a charity scam by which he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that he diverted to personal spending on lavish vacations, shopping sprees, and even plastic surgery for his girlfriend,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Garrison, Western District of Missouri. “Although he told his donors that 100 percent of all donations would go to support charitable work in Africa, including a medical clinic for needy families and HIV-positive children, in fact he spent most of the donated funds on himself. His fraud scheme also victimized law-abiding taxpayers by stealing from the public treasury rather than paying taxes owed.”

On Nov. 30, 2017, Washington pleaded guilty to two counts of filing a false tax return and one count of aggravated identity theft. Washington is among 11 defendants who have been convicted in several cases arising from the investigation of one of the largest software-piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Investigators seized more than $20 million in assets from conspirators estimated to have sold more than $100 million worth of illicit, unauthorized and counterfeit software products to thousands of online customers.

Kermit Alan Washington