Mike Miller will earn $25 million from his five-year contract with the Miami Heat, but feels the team cost him almost $2 million by introducing and consistently vouching for a con man that swindled Miller.
The sharpshooting forward, who was amnestied by the Heat and signed with the Grizzlies this offseason, is considering suing the team for $1.7 million after settlement talks broke down, according to a Miami Herald report. Miller has drawn up the complaint, but has yet to file it.
In the complaint, Miller contends Stephen Weber, the Heat’s former executive vice president/sales, introduced him to Haider Zafar, whom the Herald describes as “a South Beach bling king who presented himself as a member of a wealthy Pakistani family.”
Zafar agreed to spend $3 million on courtside seats over three years and asked Weber to introduce him to Heat players with businesses he could “invest in.” Weber followed through — despite Zafar initially not providing payment for the seats — and told Miller that Zafar was “the real deal.”
Miller gave Zafar $2 million to invest in a fund with a high-interest yield, but the alleged swindler had no access to such accounts and kept the money, using $700,000 to pay for the Heat seats and other benefits provided by the team. Zafar, who is currently imprisoned in Ohio on fraud charges as part of a separate case, also promised to invest $40 million in Miller’s business, but never did.
“Prior to introducing Zafar to Miller and prior to representing that Zafar was a suitable business and investment partner, the Heat… and Weber had a duty to fully investigate whether that patron was, in fact, a suitable partner,” Miller’s complaint says, according to the paper.
“Upon discovering information that would have led a reasonable person to conclude that Zafar was a fraud,… the Heat and Weber had a duty to notify Miller, instead of continuing to endorse Zafar. … Due to the acts and omission of the Heat and Weber, Zafar was able to steal a large amount of money from Miller.”
Two other Heat forwards, James Jones and Rashard Lewis, also lost money to Zafar, but have opted not to pursue any action against the team. Unlike Miller, Jones and Lewis still are on the Heat’s roster.