This is far from the type of trip back to Australia that 76ers coach Brett Brown wanted to experience.
Brown went to a municipal Magistrates Court in Brisbane on Friday to testify in the trial of former friend Shane Heal, who is under investigation by Australia's equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Brisbane is Australia's third-largest city.
Heal, who had two stints in the NBA, has been charged by Australia's Securities and Investments Commission over various incidents of misconduct in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Brown is a witness in the case.
The Australian Associated Press reported that Brown claimed on the stand that Heal defrauded him of $750,000 Australian _ around $558,000 U.S.
Brown and Heal have a 20-plus year association. Heal played for Brown on the Sydney Kings of Australian National Basketball League in the 1990s. Heal, a four-time Olympian, also worked as an assistant on Australia's national team when Brown was the head coach from 2009 to 2011.
According to the AAP's report, Heal is accused of defrauding Brown in transactions relating to three companies _ Shyfox, Cre8ive Constructions Queensland and 23 Investments. The report said the companies are now "deregistered."
Brown invested $250,000 Australian _ around $186,000 U.S. _ in each of the companies.
Brown was questioned at the hearing by Heal's attorney, and said he "assumed that the money was going to be used for what Shane told me it was going to be used for."
The matter is scheduled to return to court on July 20.
