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Where is the $200,000 Hawaii paid for a Stevie Wonder concert?

Diamond Jubilee - Buckingham Palace Concert

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: Singer Stevie Wonder performs on stage during the Diamond Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace on June 4, 2012 in London, England. For only the second time in its history the UK celebrates the Diamond Jubilee of a monarch. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II celebrates the 60th anniversary of her ascension to the throne. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have flocked to London to witness the spectacle of the weekend’s celebrations. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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You know those emails you get asking you to send back your bank account information because there’s a Nigerian Prince that wants to give you money or because you won millions in the UK Lotto?

You don’t respond to those, right?

If you got a call from Bernie Madoff or Nevon Shapiro about a great, new investment in the past year, you hung up the phone, right?

If so, you could probably run an Athletic Department better than Hawaii’s AD Jim Donovan. Because Donovan, as well as Sheriff Center manager Rick Sheriff, have been placed on administrative leave indefinitely after someone apparently posing as Stevie Wonder managed to get $200,000 out of the university.

Wait, what?:

UH said it put down a $200,000 deposit from athletic department funds on the planned Aug. 18 concert. The event was to have been a benefit for UH athletics.

It was cancelled Tuesday after UH said it learned that the event was planned without Wonder’s knowledge.

[...]

Donovan announced Tuesday that the planned Aug. 18 benefit concert at the arena was canceled after school officials said the show had been planned without Wonder’s knowledge. He said the UH was trying to recover the $200,000 it paid from the athletic fund to book the show. When asked if the UH had been scammed, Donovan said, “I couldn’t speculate.”


I can speculate, however.

And I think someone played Donovan. This feels like a scene from Matchstick Men.

Whatever the case, this is one of those stories where it feels like we are only scratching the surface. The FBI has already been called in, and depending on what comes of their investigation, this could get quite interesting.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.