Sunderland owner Ellis Short made a payment of around £750,000 to former chief executive Margaret Byrne after she took the rap for the club's handling of the Adam Johnson child-sex case.
Sportsmail's revelation comes the day after the club insisted they would not sack manager David Moyes, despite his threat to slap a female reporter, even though they described his behaviour as 'wholly unacceptable' in a statement.
This latest controversy has again brought shame on the club just one year on from Johnson's conviction for sexual activity with a child.
And we understand that accounts released at the end of this month will reveal that Byrne, despite resigning from her position, left with the huge pay-off in March of last year, shortly before Johnsonwas sentenced to six years in prison.