Chris Gatling, who had an 11-year NBA career that included one All-Star Game, has been arrested for allegedly running a huge online credit card scam out of Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Associated Press has the details of the charges and how the scam worked.Gatling, 47, met a Scottsdale fitness studio owner on a dating website earlier this year, according to police. He told the victim that he operated several Internet businesses that created websites and fixed credit. He persuaded her to charge credit card numbers for him through her business, authorities said. Gatlin allegedly told her she could have 10 percent of the dollar amounts charged, but he would get 90 percent. He also convinced her to give him his share upfront in cash, investigators said.
The charges were later deemed unauthorized and charged back to the victim. She lost $90,000 and was forced to close her fitness studio.
Police detectives said their investigation led to the discovery that Gatling was juggling multiple online businesses that were used to gather credit card numbers. The numbers were then run through other businesses for services that the cardholders never authorized, police said. The entire operation was based in a call center in Phoenix. But police said they have heard from alleged victims from around the U.S.
Gatling was already on probation from a theft case three years ago.
Gatling’s NBA career spanned 11 seasons where he bounced around, playing for Golden State, Miami, Dallas, New Jersey, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Denver and Cleveland. The 6'10" power forward was reasonably efficient, scoring 10.3 points per game on 51 percent shooting for his career, plus pitching in 5.3 rebounds per game.
