NCAA hands former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh a 4-year show cause order for recruiting violations

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The NCAA announced a four-year, show-cause order for former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Wednesday for impermissible contact with recruits and players during the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively banning him from college athletics until August 2028.

The NCAA said Harbaugh, who left his alma mater to coach the Los Angeles Chargers after last season's undefeated national championship, “failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance and violated head coach responsibility obligations."

“Harbaugh engaged in unethical conduct and failed to cooperate when he denied any involvement in impermissible recruiting contacts despite substantial information to the contrary,” the NCAA said in a 48-page decision that several times suggested the coach was not truthful with investigators.

Harbaugh will only face the punishment if he makes an unexpected return to college football within the next four years.

The recruiting case is unrelated to the NCAA’s investigation into impermissible in-person scouting and sign-stealing allegations that roiled Michigan’s championship season in 2023 and resulted in a three-game suspension of Harbaugh by the Big Ten Conference.

Multiple infractions cases in such a short time period could prompt the NCAA to treat Michigan as a repeat offender, opening the school up to harsher penalties in the sign-stealing case.

“It probably just matters more in terms of how the committee (on infractions) interprets the entire case and whether they're giving the institution the benefit of the doubt in some areas,” said Jay Ezelle, an attorney based in Birmingham, Alabama, who has handled NCAA cases.

New Michigan coach Sherrone Moore is facing allegations he violated NCAA rules related to the investigation into scouting and sign-stealing, three people briefed on a pending notice of allegations told The Associated Press last weekend. All spoke on condition of anonymity because the notice was confidential.

Two of the people said Moore has been accused of deleting text message exchanges with Connor Stalions — the former low-level recruiting staffer who coordinated an off-campus, advance-scouting operation — around the time the investigation was opened.

One of the people said the NCAA has recommended a less serious Level 2 violation for Moore, adding that messages between Moore and Stalions were recovered and that the coach provided them to the NCAA.

The NCAA had already put Michigan on three years of probation along with a fine and recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in the case. Harbaugh did not go along with the agreement, contesting allegations he failed to cooperate with investigators, and his case was handled separately.

The committee on infractions noted that Harbaugh’s “intentional disregard” for NCAA rules amplified the severity of the case and prompted the panel to classify Harbaugh’s case as Level I-aggravated, leading to a one-year suspension as part of the show-cause order.

The order runs through Aug. 6, 2028. It requires any school wanting to hire Harbaugh over the next four years to suspend him for the first full season. After that, Harbaugh would be still be barred from athletics-related activities, including team travel, practice, video study, recruiting and team meetings until the order expires.

Harbaugh’s attorney, Tom Mars, has said the coach was not invited to participate in the settlement process nor was he aware that an agreement had been reached between the school and the NCAA. He blasted the NCAA's punishment.

“The way I see it, from Coach Harbaugh’s perspective, today's COI decision is like being in college and getting a letter from your high school saying you’ve been suspended because you didn’t sign your yearbook,” Mars posted on social media. “If I were in Coach Harbaugh's shoes and had an $80 million contract as head coach of the Chargers, I wouldn’t pay any attention to the findings of a kangaroo court which claims to represent the principles of the nation’s most flagrant, repeat violator of the federal antitrust laws."

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel noted the school has already accepted the sanctions and served many of the penalties.

“Our staff has worked to improve processes and we are focused on the future and our commitment to integrity and compliance,” Manuel said.

Moore, who was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach when Harbaugh bolted for the Chargers, filled in as acting head coach four times last season while Harbaugh served suspensions, including the regular-season finale against Ohio State.

In-person scouting is banned by the NCAA, which investigated Michigan’s alleged system to determine how organized it was and who knew about it. Stalions, who has not cooperated with the NCAA in its investigation, will break his silence Aug. 27 on Netflix when the documentary “Sign Stealer” makes its debut on the streaming service.

“I do not apologize,” Harbaugh said Monday when asked about the NCAA's sign-stealing notice to the Wolverines. “I did not participate. I was not aware nor complicit in those said allegations."

In the recruiting case, the NCAA sharply questioned Harbaugh’s “vague” responses during interviews with investigators, at one point “asking whether he was lying to the enforcement staff.”

“I do not think I’m providing false or misleading information,” Harbaugh replied.

The NCAA noted that Harbaugh could not recall meeting with recruits despite confirmation from at least one of his own staff members and the prospects’ families. One recruit specifically remembered the coach “ordered a hamburger for breakfast, which ‘kind of stood out’ to him.” Other NCAA evidence included a text message from Harbaugh to a recruit.

“Given the significant amount of reasonable, credible information in the record, Harbaugh’s denials are not credible,” the NCAA said.

Harbaugh's punishment and news about the sign-stealing scandal all come with Michigan ramping up to defend its national title. The Wolverines open the season at home against Fresno State on Aug. 31.

“Once you’re at the top, things like that happen,” Michigan defensive back Quinten Johnson said a few hours before the announcement of penalties against Harbaugh. “That’s not really a concern right now."

AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed. Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh instructs on the field during NFL football training camp Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at a news conference after NFL football training camp Monday, July 29, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at a news conference after NFL football training camp Monday, July 29, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at a news conference after NFL football training camp Monday, July 29, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at a news conference after NFL football training camp Monday, July 29, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh speaks at a news conference after NFL football training camp Monday, July 29, 2024, in El Segundo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — The second trial for Vietnamese real estate typcoon Truong My Lan — who was sentenced to death for financial fraud in April — started on Thursday, state media reported.

The 67-year-old chair of the real estate company Van Thinh Phat was convicted for orchestrating Vietnam's biggest ever financial fraud case, amounting to $12.5 billion — nearly 3% of the country’s 2022 GDP and for illegally controlling a major bank allowing loans that resulted in losses of $27 billion, state media said.

Her arrest and conviction was one of the highest profile cases in an anti-corruption drive that has intensified since 2022. The so-called blazing furnace campaign has also singed the highest echelons of Vietnamese politics and led to the resignation of a former president who was implicated in it.

Lan is being tried on fresh charges of appropriating property fraudulently and money laundering. According to a police investigation, she raised $1.2 billion from nearly 36,000 investors by issuing bonds illegally through four companies, state media reports say.

Investigators found 21 companies controlled by Lan's Van Thinh Phat that illegally transferred over $4.5 billion in and out of Vietnam between 2012-2022.

She is also accused of siphoning off $18 billion obtained through fraud.

The case also involves 33 other defendants. It is expected to last a month.

Lan and her family established the Van Thing Phat company in 1992 after Vietnam shifted from a state-run economy to a more market-oriented approach that was open to foreign investors. She started out helping her mother, a Chinese entrepreneur, sell cosmetics in Ho Chi Minh City’s oldest market, according to the state media outlet Tien Phong.

Van Thinh Phat became one of Vietnam’s richest real estate firms, with projects including luxury residential buildings, offices, hotels and shopping centers. This made her a key player in the country’s financial industry.

Lan’s first trial shocked many Vietnamese. Analysts said the scale of the scam raised questions about whether other banks or businesses had similarly erred, dampening Vietnam’s economic outlook and making foreign investors jittery at a time when Vietnam is trying to position itself as the ideal home for businesses trying to diversify supply chains away from China.

Business woman Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon sentenced to death for financial fraud, attends her second trial in Vietnam's largest fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Thanh Tung/VNExpress via AP)

Businesswoman Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon sentenced to death for financial fraud, attends her second trial in Vietnam's largest fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)

Business woman Truong My Lan, center, a real estate tycoon sentenced to death for financial fraud, attends her second trial in Vietnam's largest fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Thanh Tung/VNExpress via AP)

Business woman Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon sentenced to death for financial fraud, attends her second trial in Vietnam's largest fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)

Business woman Truong My Lan, a real estate tycoon sentenced to death for financial fraud, attends her second trial in Vietnam's largest fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Thanh Tung/VnExpress via AP)