Heat players got played in real estate scam: witness

Haider Zafar
Haider Zafar

A witness testified in the case against a man accused of fraud that Miami Heat players were among those swindled in a South Florida real estate scam.

The testimony came Thursday in federal court in Ohio, where U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus denied bond to Haider Zafar, categorizing him as a flight risk and a danger to others, the AP reported.

The 135-count indictment says Zafar, 35, swindled Washington, D.C. businessman Patwinder Sindhu out of $10 million by portraying that his uncle was Pakistan’s minister of defense and in control of property acquisitions.

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The witness who testified during Thursday’s hearing, investment attorney Andrew Fine, said some Heat players, including former forward Mike Miller, and other Florida residents invested $8 million with Zafar.

The Associated Press named the Heat players forward Rashard Lewis and guard James Jones, citing an anonymous source. [AP]Emily Schmall