Ex-East Tennessee State tennis coach Zaatini indicted

Posted November 17, 2017 6:00 am

The Associated Press

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - Former East Tennessee State tennis coach Yaser Zaatini has been indicted on charges that he misappropriated at least $45,540 from the university.

The Tennessee comptroller's office announced Friday that a Washington County grand jury on Nov. 3 indicted Zaatini on one count of theft of over $10,000 and 22 counts of forgery. The investigation started after ETSU's department of internal audit reported financial discrepancies in the tennis program.

Zaatini resigned on March 16.

Investigators said Zaatini misappropriated funds between September 2011 and February 2017 and provided fabricated or altered documents to the ETSU athletic department. Investigators said Zaatini submitted fraudulent student-athlete per diem documents, fabricated fraudulent documents for reimbursement and inflated the amounts he paid for tournament registration.

Zaatini's lawyer, Don Spurrell, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

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