MIAMI – A Pakistani man with past felony charges is now facing five more felony charges in South Florida by the State Attorney's Office.
Haidar Zafar, 36, is charged with five counts of wire fraud in connection with an investment scam that involved his expensive purchase of a three-season Miami Heat ticket package.
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According to the indictment, Zafar posed as a member of a wealthy Pakistani family known for operating many hotels around the world. In October 2012, he allegedly told a Miami Heat sales executive that he wanted to purchase a premium three-season ticket package worth $1,055,000. He received the package under the premises that he would pay off the price at a later time.
Prosecutors said, using the same false identity, Zafar obtained a loan and millions of dollars from investors for a project he had proposed to them. But he never invested in anything, and prosecutors said all the money went to personal expenses and to pay a portion of what he owed for the Miami Heat tickets.
Zafar has a history with law enforcement in Miami-Dade County. In March 2011, he was listed as a person of interest in the shooting of a man and a woman in Bal Harbour. Police said his employee, Ryan Hubbard, shot a man in the knee as he dined at Carpaccio's restaurant. They said the shooting was over an earlier dispute involving Zafar, Hubbard and the victim, Kris Bortonovsky. A 90-year-old woman dining nearby was also shot in the foot.
Zafar is currently incarcerated in Ohio awaiting sentencing on unrelated federal fraud charges.