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Former NBA ballers Keyon Dooling and Alan Anderson have been sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding the NBA out of millions of dollars in a multimillion dollar healthcare fraud scheme
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on Friday that Dooling, who once served as Vice President of the NBA Players Association, was sentenced to 30 months in prison. And, on Feb. 10, Anderson was sentenced to 24 months.
Dooling was accused of receiving $363,000 in fraudulent claims as well as helping other players file false claims from the National Basketball Association Players’ Health and Welfare Benefit Plan.
Anderson was arrested in 2021 and accused of receiving $121,000 in fake claims, and helping players file fake claims of an additional $700,000.
“These former players recruited others to take part in this widespread fraud scheme and went to great lengths to keep the scheme running smoothly, facilitating hundreds of thousands of dollars of fraudulent claims,” U.S. attorney Damian Williams said in the release. “This Office will continue to aggressively prosecute those engaged in health care fraud schemes, no matter what their profession. Those considering submitting false claims to health care plans should recognize that they will be subject to serious penalties.”
The statement also read: “DOOLING participated in the scheme from at least in or about 2017 through in or about 2019. DOOLING traded on his reputation among current and former NBA players to refer other former NBA players to co-defendant KHAZIRAN and WAHAB. DOOLING also recruited and attempted to recruit additional Plan-participants and medical professionals into the fraud scheme. DOOLING himself submitted fraudulent invoices to the Plan, relating to services purportedly performed by co-defendants KHAZIRAN and WAHAB. DOOLING received approximately $363,000 in fraudulent reimbursements, and he is responsible for facilitating the fraudulent claims filed by other defendants, who received approximately $194,295 in fraudulent proceeds from the plan.”
Dooling was the 10th player selected in the first round of the 2000 draft. He finished his career avering 7 ppg. Anderson, who was undrafted, finished his NBA career averaging 7.3 ppg.
Michael Mumbauer is the founder and CEO of Liithos, which has partnered with a who’s who of comic book artists — including Paul Pelletier (Aquaman, Guardians of the Galaxy, et al.), Brett Booth (Backlash, Gunslinger), and Eisner Award winner Tony Harris (Starman, Ex Machina) — to launch an all-new comic book series of the same name that will be written by Garvin. Launching this March, fans can visit Liithos.com to get physical, digital, or NFT versions of the new comic book.
BGN chatted with Mumbauer over Zoom to discuss the use of social media, his action goals with Liithos, and creating new methods to launch comic book projects and video games.
Share with us what Liithos is doing for the entertainment industry, and what you’re setting out to achieve with the studio.
I want to continue the journey that I was on at PlayStation but be a little bit more experimental. Being in a big, big, big company, it’s harder to do quirky things. So I’m doing this TikTok series. I’m not sure that that would have been an easy path to deliver at any big major company because it’s a very strange platform. And the way I’m using it is very odd.
Liithos is about me being able to take the risks that I want to take in terms of the opportunities, experimental areas, and new markets. TikTok is one of the biggest platforms in the world. I think that is not entirely understood. I don’t think it’s good or bad. I just think it’s not entirely understood. And I think it is a platform that we can leverage and create new kinds of storytelling opportunities.
It’s not that I want to make a company to make TikTok videos or games, but the idea was to be able to have the freedom to experiment on these platforms and drive them back to the game. The game is our core focus, but what I want to do on the periphery of the games are in the areas of experimentation and storytelling. So those kinds of experimentations in storytelling led to The Last of Us.
You have a project called Ashfall, which is a comic right?
It’s a game and a comic! And now it’s a TikTok series. I would say, it’s a transmedia IP, which now The Last of Us is. The Last of Us was a comic series at its release of the first game as well. I think anything that’s more than just the game ultimately can sit in a bucket called transmedia. Rather than wait for the release of the game, let’s explore the IP while working. That also means we’ll look at the difference in the variations of the character, which we released in June. We released some images of a character in June as the protagonist for the series in the game, and it’s evolved.
Are you doing short narrative pieces in TikTok form to do this long lead launch into the game?
Yes, some almost think of it. It’s something totally different, like the Batman: The Animated Series. If they’re making a Batman game, it doesn’t necessarily lead to the game. But this is about the spirit of the IP being explored in a space that’s very, very new. I love short-form. I love episodic content. Are you a comic strip fan? Are you a comic strip nerd?
Absolutely.
Not comic books. I’m talking comics strips.
Oh yeah, Garfield, The Family Circus, and Curtis are just some I remember reading back in the day.
When was the last time you watched or read a Sunday comic?
It’s been years. I don’t even get the paper anymore.
So what you just described is what happened to Sunday comics, which is a bit tragic, right? We don’t read the newspaper in that format anymore. I’m not sure who you know who goes to see Sunday comics.
But as a child, to be honest, I was obsessed with Sunday comics. I would get the paper and cut all of the comics out and make my own books of the comics. They had to tell stories in six to eight panels. How do you tell a story weekly in that? Comics, they give you eight panels, and you come back next week to find out what happened.
The whole medium was completely different. What if we were going to take a Sunday comics format and apply that to TikTok as live action? Has anybody even done that? Comics for an entire new generation, if that makes sense.
I don’t know if we’ll be successful. But narratives that are kind of exciting and fun and I want to know what happens because there’s a cliffhanger. That’s the key. Every one of these TikTok episodes has a cliffhanger. That’s what we did in Sunday comics. That’s what we’re trying to do. It’s just a fun experiment in a new IP.
Have you found that because of social media and how users are engaging with these platforms that TikTok influencers have far more reach than, say, partnering up with a TV or movie celebrity?
I think that’s the experiment. We’re gonna find out. Michael Le is doing this experimental series, and he has 53 million followers. If we try to visualize what 53 million followers look like, that’s the state of California, the state of Oregon, and the state of Washington combined. If we can capture 1% of that audience, it’s an amazing achievement, just on a social platform of engagement. If we can get 10%, that’s 5 million people. And if it grows beyond that, it’s amazing.
So that’s the experiment. Will people resonate with this? I don’t know. I think celebrity means a very different thing today. I think that Mr. Beast and Michael Le are just as powerful as any film or music celebrity I can think of.
To stay up to date on this and all things Liithos: visit https://liithos.com, or follow them on Twitter at @liithosent, or join their Discord at https://discord.gg/liithos.
Winnie Harlow took the fashion world by storm as soon as she sashayed her way onto the scene. The 28-year-old Jamaican-Canadian beauty got her big break on the 21st cycle of America’s Next Top Model in 2014.
Instantly, she became a standout contestant and fan favorite who refused to let vitiligo, a chronic skin condition and auto-immune disease, hinder her from pursuing her dreams.
Following the show, Harlow was tapped as a brand representative for Desigual and appeared in advertising campaigns for Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Tommy Hilfiger, Diesel, Swarovski, and MAC. She also made history as the first model with vitiligo to walk in the coveted Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2016 and went on to grace countless magazine covers, including Vogue, Harper’s Baazar, and Elle.
Now, after redefining the face of beauty, the 5’9 supermodel is making her mark in the beauty industry with her new skincare line, Cay Skin, which promises to protect all skin tones and shades from sun damage.
“I created Cay Skin to ensure that everyone has access to clean sun care, no matter their skin color, condition, or type,” Harlow told BLACK ENTERPRISE in an email. “It was important for me to create a brand formulated for people who, like me, dislike the feeling of heavy sunscreen, with pore-clogging ingredients, and the white cast it leaves.”
Harlow says she was inspired to launch Cay Skin last year after getting a severe sunburn during a tropical photo shoot back in 2018.
“I had a two-day shoot in the Bahamas from sunup to sundown, and I was asked to skip sun protection to avoid the awful white cast that traditional sunscreen would leave on my skin. I ended up severely sunburned and was forced to seek emergency medical care for extreme pain and severe inflammation,” she said.
In addition to enduring physical pain, the sunburn permanently altered her vitiligo pattern. “That experience changed my life, and, since then, it became my mission to create superior products for everyone—skincare that is sun care—with no compromises.”
Cay Skin includes SPF-enriched body and face products packed with nourishing ingredients like sea moss, a nutrient-rich seaweed containing 92 minerals; hydrating tropical plant nectar; and Kakadu Plum, a rich source of vitamin C and a powerful antioxidant that brightens skin. Some of the most popular products from the line include the Isle Glow Face Lotion SPF 45, Universal Mineral Face Lotion SPF 55, Isle Body Oil SPF 30, Isle Lip Balm SPF 30, and Deepwater Body Créme.
BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke to Harlow about her entrepreneurial journey and the importance of diversity in the beauty and fashion industries. See what she said below.
BE: What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
My experience on that shoot really empowered me to make a change in the industry. Growing up visiting my dad in Jamaica, sunscreen has always been something that’s been really important to me, and I was determined to create a solution for the issue of it leaving a white cast. I want people to feel comfortable and beautiful showing their skin while also being protected from the sun. This process has been unlike anything else in my career because every step of the way, I am involved, so while it’s been a lot of work, it’s been the most rewarding because it’s a product that I truly created from scratch.
BE: You’ve raised $6.5 million from investors to start this company. What was that process like?
The fundraising process was unlike anything I’ve done before! Looking back, I think my passion and my belief in this brand was truly the most successful tactic. It’s so easy to slap your name on a product, but when you really believe in your product, it’s so much easier for others to believe in you, too.
BE: What would you tell young people struggling to embrace their differences?
I was bullied and taunted so much growing up, so I understand firsthand how it feels to struggle to embrace your differences, but these differences don’t define us. Headlines and reports have often referred to me as someone who “suffers from vitiligo.” I don’t suffer from this; I am a model. And I happen to have vitiligo. And it’s important to remember that our differences are what make us unique and beautiful.
BE: Why are diversity and representation important in the fashion and beauty industries?
I think often people look at diversity and representation as a box to check. We are all unique and different, and if we don’t embrace that, what do we have? I often hear the term “new norm” around inclusion and diversity, but really, this is the norm and always has been; it’s just finally coming to the surface. Avoiding tokenism or one-off trends is really important to me—I want to use my diversity to help make meaningful and impactful changes that truly open doors and change the beauty landscape.
BE: You’ve graced the cover of countless magazines, launched your own beauty brand, and changed the face of beauty. What’s next for Winnie Harlow?
I am constantly on the move between my modeling work, fashion appearances, and work for my brand Cay Skin—and I don’t foresee myself slowing down anytime soon. We have new products launching for Cay Skin in 2023, and I can’t wait for everyone to see them. There’s still so much I would like to develop for the brand, and it’s been such a fantastic journey; I can’t wait to see what happens next!
This interview was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.