When Mike Miller and the Miami Heat parted ways at the end of last season, it seemed that all was well between the two parties. New reports are surfacing that suggests that there might be some bad blood between Miller and the Heat. CBS Sports has information that indicates that Miller and the Heat may be in for a bitter court battle for the sum of $1.7 million if settlement talks don’t get any better. The story is a bit muddled, but this is what appears to have gone down.
Miller, who now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, lost $1.7 million in a scam allegedly orchestrated by Haider Zafar, a South Beach bling king who presented himself as a member of a wealthy Pakistani family.
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.
Settlement talks between Miller and the Heat have stalled. Miller asked for that $700,000 back from the Heat, plus attorney’s fees, but “the parties were far apart,” Miller’s attorney, Andrew Fine, said.
In the potential lawsuit, Miller is seeking a lot more: the entire $1.7 million that he lost in Zafar’s scam.
Zafar is now in custody in Ohio for a separate fraud scam, but it also appears that James Jones and Rashard Lewis were also victims of the swindle. The meetings for these transactions did in fact happen at the Miami Heat offices, but the Heat employee that introduced Miller, Jones and Lewis to Zafar has left the team. Miller hasn’t filed the complaint yet, but it is clear he is not letting the issue go lightly.