Haider Zafar is awaiting trial on 135 charges tied to a scheme that allegedly swindled $10 million from a Washington D.C. businessman. Zafar has pled not guilty to the charges.
While he is being charged in Ohio at his bail hearing prosecutors were trying to paint Zafar as a flight risk and had a witness say Zafar had moved to Florida and been involved in an alleged scam that took in $8 million total including from several current and former Miami Heat players. From the Associated Press.
"The witness who testified during Thursday’s hearing, international-investment attorney Andrew Fine, said some Heat players, including former forward Mike Miller, and other Florida residents invested $8 million with Zafar. The other players are forward Rashard Lewis and guard James Jones, a person with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. The person requested anonymity because it is an active investigation. The Heat, in a statement Friday, said the team remains in “constant contact” with the authorities handling the investigation."
The Heat players are not part of the criminal complaint. Zafar is charged with convincing clients through fraudulent documents that his uncle was the defense minister in Pakistan, in charge buying land for the government. The idea was the investors would buy the land first then sell it to the government at a profit. Prosecutors say the whole process was all a sham.
Miller was amnestied by the Heat and has signed to play with the Memphis Grizzlies next season, while Rashard Lewis and James Jones will be on the Heat roster for the upcoming 2013-13 NBA season.
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[via Pro Basketball Talk]
