Miami agrees to give back $83,000 in Shapiro donations
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The 
University of Miami        is giving back $83,000 it says it received "directly and  indirectly"       from Nevin Shapiro, the former Hurricanes booster and  convicted Ponzi       scheme architect whose claims of giving athletes  and recruits extra       benefits for nearly a decade sparked an NCAA  investigation
          Court records show the agreement  between the school and bankruptcy       trustee Joel Tabas was filed  last week. Once the agreement becomes       finalized, Miami would have  14 days to make payment to Tabas, who is       overseeing the effort to  recoup money that Shapiro's investors lost. 
"The  agreement was the result of a lengthy negotiation process and        brings closure to the University's obligations in the bankruptcy case,"        Miami's general counsel office said in a statement, and Tabas  affirmed       that to be the case in an e-mail to the Associated Press.     
    
      The NCAA said in August that eight players would be  suspended for either       one, four or six games -- most got only  one-game bans -- and that they       and four others would have to pay  back what they received from Shapiro,       who claimed to give extra  benefits to 72 players and football recruits       during his time as a  booster, along with contributions to the       university's athletic  department. 
   As a condition of the agreement, once it  becomes final, the trustee       "releases the University and the  Athletes from any and all claims,       counterclaims ... whether  liability be direct or indirect." In short,       that means the value  of the gifts past and present players received from       Shapiro will  likely not be pursued by the trustee.    
    
      "This amount  includes payment of $3,000 in penalties levied by the NCAA       on 11  current student-athletes who received improper benefits from Mr.        Shapiro," the university's statement said. 
          Shapiro  said he gave athletes money, cars, yacht rides and other       benefits  from 2002 through 2010. He is serving a 20-year prison term for        overseeing a $930 million Ponzi scheme, and involuntary bankruptcy        proceedings to recover at least some of the money his investors lost        were initiated in 2009. When he was sentenced, federal officials  said       his grocery-distribution scam led to investor losses of at  least $80       million.    
    
The NCAA is expected to  levy sanctions against Miami when its inquiry       into the school's  compliance practices concludes. Miami's football team       did not make  itself eligible for selection to a bowl game this season, a        self-imposed penalty related to the NCAA investigation.
Previous court records show that Miami agreed in July 2010 - more  than a       year before the full extent of Shapiro's claims were  unveiled in a Yahoo       Sports reports - to repay $130,307 from  debtors also involved in the       bankruptcy proceedings.    
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      There is no known timetable for the completion of the NCAA inquiry.    
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