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Former Fiesta Bowl COO due in court

Posted: Nov 30, 2011 8:41 AM

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PHOENIX (AP) - The former chief operating officer of the Fiesta Bowl is due in federal court on Wednesday for her arraignment.

Natalie Wisneski is charged with filing false income tax returns for the bowl by certifying that political contributions were not made. She also is charged with campaign finance violations and conspiracy.

Wisneski is the first person charged in the scandal that led to the dismissal of President John Junker in March. Junker has not been charged but remains under investigation by state and federal agencies.

Wisneski, 47, is accused of soliciting campaign contributions from bowl employees for federal, state and local political candidates and helping arrange for the bowl to repay them.

She resigned from her job in March, shortly after bowl president and chief executive officer John Junker was fired after the apparent campaign-donation scheme was made public.

The investigation into the Fiesta Bowl's conduct under Junker is ongoing and the organization under its new leadership is cooperating.

The Arizona attorney general is also involved in the probe, and an investigation into numerous state politicians who took free tickets from the bowl is also under way.

The annual Fiesta Bowl also hosts the national football championship every four years and the scandal put its role as one of the four top-tier bowl groups in jeopardy. But it avoided the worst sanctions - the loss of the championship game and its NCAA license.

A 276-page report of an investigation conducted by Fiesta Bowl board members and a retired Arizona state Supreme Court justice found the "apparent scheme" to reimburse at least $46,539 for employees' political contributions.

The report also uncovered spending of $33,000 for a birthday bash for Junker in Pebble Beach, Calif., $13,000 for the wedding of one of his aides and a $1,200 tab at a Phoenix strip club. The report outlined junkets and free football tickets for many Arizona legislators who had not revealed the gifts as required by state law.

The BCS fined the Fiesta Bowl $1 million in June and the NCAA placed it on probation for a year.

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