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Former NBA All-Star Gatling arrested for credit card scam

Former NBA All-Star Chris Gatling is mostly known for two things: being on the receiving end of this poster-worthy Shawn Kemp jam, and being traded the most times in NBA history.

Now Gatling, 47, is in the spotlight for significantly more unsavory reasons.

Gatling was arrested in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Thursday in connection to a credit card and identity theft scheme. He was officially arrested for fraud, aggravated identity theft, and forgery, according to Bleacher Report's Scott Polacek.

The one-time NBA All-Star (1997) was identified by police as the "kingpin" of the elaborate scam, according to TMZ Sports. He initially set up an Internet business in order to gather credit card information from people. After collecting his victims' information, he went to a fitness studio owned by a woman he'd met on a dating website, and charged the credit cards for unauthorized purchases. He then asked the woman to front him 90 percent of his transactions in cash, having convinced her that his charges were legitimate.

With the fitness studio owner out $90,000, she was eventually forced to close her business.

In an ironic twist, police apprehended Gatling while he was meeting with his probation officer. In 2013, he plead guilty to charges of theft and forgery after squatting in a house he did not own and trying to list it for rent on Craiglist.

Gatling was the No. 16 pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. He played for eight teams in the league, and finished with career averages of 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds. His best season came in 1996-1997, when he averaged 19.1 points for the Dallas Mavericks, and was selected as an All-Star.

He made nearly $30 million over the course of his 11-year pro career.

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