Though I’m tempted to say Memphis’ Mike Miller should sue whoever told him a ponytail was a good idea, the 33 year old F/G is said to be mulling a lawsuit against the Miami Heat claiming he lost $1.7 in a con orchestrated by Haider Zafar (above), a former Dublin, OH resident currently facing charges over a $10 million real estate scam. Zafar, previously dubbed “The South Beach King of Bling”, was allegedly referred to Miller by a Heat executive, as the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reports :
According to Miller’s complaint that has been drawn up but not yet filed, a Heat employee introduced Miller to Zafar, and Zafar used $700,000 of the money he stole from Miller to pay for courtside Heat tickets. In the potential lawsuit, Miller is seeking a lot more: the entire $1.7 million that he lost in Zafar’s scam.
According to the complaint which I obtained, Zafar last December agreed to spend $3 million over three seasons for Heat courtside seats and other benefits but did not submit payment.
In February, Miller sent Zafar $2 million to invest in what Zafar portrayed as a private investment fund with a high-interest yield. Fine said Zafar had access to no such fund and ended up keeping most of Miller’s money.
Zafar, who is imprisoned in Ohio awaiting trial on fraud charges in an unrelated case, also reneged on a promise to invest $40 million in three of Miller’s businesses.
Miller determined that Zafar was a fraud in late April. Until that point, “(Heat executive vice president) Stephen Weber continued to vouch for Zafar even though he never paid” some of the $1 million due the Heat, according to Miller’s complaint.