Prosecutor waits for comptroller audit of alleged ETSU racquet allegations

An East Tennessee State University internal audit has found that Yaser Zaatini, who resigned as tennis coach in March,  was involved in $106,000 worth of misdeeds and may have committed the crimes of theft, forgery and misconduct. But Washington County District Attorney is waiting for an audit by the state comptroller’s office before presenting the matter to a grand jury, reports the Johnson City Press.

 In his letter to ETSU President Brian Noland, obtained through a Tennessee Open Records request filed after his resignation was announced, Zaatini wrote “In conjunction with my resignation, I waive all annual leave accruals and have executed the enclosed promissory note promising to pay the university $31,293.13 consistent therewith. 

“In connection with this resignation I make no admission of malfeasance.”

…ETSU Board of Trustees member David Golden, head of the body’s Audit Committee, said the hall of fame coach was engaged in a “fairly sophisticated” scheme to falsify student-athletes’ signatures on meal expenditure forms and print phony receipts for restringing tennis racquets to be reimbursed for the costs. 

Tracing suspect transactions as far back as 2010, the university’s audit team estimated $85,674.61 in questionable expenses related to meal expenses, racquet stringing, registration fees and other expenditures. Auditors also tallied $20,747.63 in unreported annual leave they called into question. 

Even with the ETSU internal audit, Clark said if there were any charges, the state comptroller’s office would be the prosecuting agency, so he wanted to wait for that report before proceeding to the grand jury.

…“We want to make sure we have everything there might be before we move forward,” he said.