NCAA: Report on University of Miami Investigation Due Soon

External investigator has completed interviews and investigation, a final report is expected to be delivered to the NCAA by the end of next week

The lawyer appointed by the NCAA to review the organization's enforcement staff's actions in its investigation of the University of Miami athletic program is in the final stages of his investigation, and the NCAA could receive a final report as soon as next week.

The NCAA said in a statement released Wednesday that Kenneth L. Wainstein, a partner with the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, "has completed the necessary interviews and review of information and is now in the process of preparing a final report." He is investigating charges that the organization obtained information from the legal representatives of convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro in order to determine whether former Miami football players received impermissible benefits from Shapiro.

Earlier this week, CBS Sports reported that NCAA vice president of enforcement Julie Roe Lach authorized a payment of over $20,000 to Maria Elena Perez, Shapiro's lawyer, in exchange for information gathered during the deposition of two Shapiro associates in December 2011 as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.

On January 23, NCAA president Mark Emmert announced the organization would conduct an investigation of its staff's actions in the UM investigation after improper arrangements came to his attention. "I am deeply disappointed and frustrated and even angry about these circumstances," Emmert said at the time.

The NCAA said it will release the results of Wainstein's review "following the completion of the report," adding that it expects to receive the report by the end of next week.

The NCAA first began investigating the Shapiro affair in August 2011, and UM has existed in a state of limbo (expecting sanctions from the NCAA but unable to pay any penalty until the organization completes its investigation and hears appeals) ever since.

PHOTOS: Timeline of the UM Scandal

UM football coach Al Golden said the expected NCAA sanctions have been a looming threat to possible recruits ever since, saying Wednesday, "We're fighting the term 'sanctions' all the time."

The current investigation of the investigators has held up the delivery of a notice of allegations to UM. The school had expected to receive a notice of allegations last month, with a response from UM and possible appeal coming shortly thereafter.

Emmert said last month that the NCAA would wait to deliver a notice of allegations to UM until its internal investigation was complete.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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