Although Mike Miller is no longer with the Miami Heat (he was amnestied over the summer and is now with the Memphis Grizzlies), he'll always have a special place in Heat lore.
Who can forget his Game 5 NBA Finals performance against the Thunder, when he put down seven three-pointers? Or his one-shoe heroics in Game 6 of last year's Finals?
Well, it looks like whatever love Mystic Wolfman had with the organization might be out the window. That is, if he goes ahead with a lawsuit following a bizarre scam with some character known as a "Bling King."
According to the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson, Miller seems to have fallen for the ol' Nigerian Prince Email Scam, only without the email. And he's blaming the Heat.
Miller has a complaint that could be filed in court soon, asking the Heat to fork over $1.7 million in damages.
The whole thing comes down to a former Heat employee who introduced Miller to a man named Haider Zafar, a scam artist who posed as a member of a wealthy Pakistani family.
Apparently Zafar used $700,000 of Miller's money to buy himself courtside Heat tickets after Miller sent him $2 million to invest in a supposed private investment fund with a high-interest yield.
Turns out, there was no such fund. But Zafar kept Miller's money anyway.
James Jones and Rashard Lewis were also victims of the "Bling King."
"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.""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."
Besides the Heat, Weber and the team's seat licensing company are also named as defendants in the complaint. The complaint claims Weber, who left the Heat during the playoffs, "occasionally set up side deals for his own benefit."
For now, Miller has yet to file the complaint. He's asking for the Heat to pay him $700,000, plus attorney's fees, since it was a Heat employee who introduced him to Zafar.
If the Heat doesn't come through with that amount, the complaint will be filed and a suit will go forward for $1.7 million -- the total amount Kafar took from Miller.
"Bling King" Zafar is now in custody in Ohio on an unrelated fraud case.
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