Penn State has agreed to pay $151,000 to resolve potential false claim liabilities involving federal research grants and contracts, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania David Freed said on Monday.
The investigation centered on alleged ‘mischarges’ to grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the Navy, the Air Force and NASA. The contracts were awarded to the university between 2012 and 2017, and the isolated alleged mischarges occurred between 2013 and 2016.
Penn State cooperated with the investigation and the result was ‘a fair settlement and appropriate policy changes,’ Freed said in a statement.
“We are fortunate in the Middle District of Pennsylvania to be the home of a major research university,” Freed said. “Part of the important work that takes place at such institutions involves appropriate management of federal grants and contracts. When mischarges occur, investigative arms of federal grant-making entities have a responsibility to act to on behalf of the taxpayers.’
Penn State had potential liability under the False Claims Act, Freed said. The university does not admit any liability in the settlement.
‘Penn State cooperated fully with this investigation and we are pleased to bring this matter to a close,’ a statement provided by the university said. ’We are committed to being careful stewards of government funding in managing our grants and contracts processes.’
The issue was jointly investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the NSF Office of Inspector General, the NASA Office of Inspector General, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Leigh-Alistair Barzey, special agent-in-charge for the DCIS Northeast Field Office, said ensuring the integrity of Department of Defense grant and contracting process is a top priority and that the DCIS is committed to ensuring claims made ‘by academic institutions are reasonable, allocable, allowable and supported by adequate documentation.’
‘Those who do business with the federal government must ensure they charge the U.S. taxpayer appropriately,’ added Jason T. Hein, special agent-in-charge for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Office of Procurement Fraud. ‘The Air Force OSI, along with its law enforcement partners, has, and always will, aggressively investigate and seek justice to protect the USAF procurement process and ensure the trust of the American taxpayer.’
