U.S. Attorney Greg Davis issued the following press release:
Jackson State University Agrees to Pay $1.17 Million to Settle False Claims Act Allegations
During the time period, June 1, 2006 to September 30, 2011, JSU submitted claims and/or expended funds under NSF Grants and in so doing, impliedly certified that every claim and/or expenditure was supportable, allocable, and allowable and that JSU would maintain adequate records to support these claims and expenditures. In 2012, an audit of the NSF Grants performed under contract for the NSF Office of Inspector General (“NSF-OIG”) identified salary and non-salary expenditures that were unallowable, not allocable, and/or had insufficient, inadequate and/or no supporting documentation. A subsequent NSF-OIG investigation determined that, in preparation for the audit, and subsequently in response to the preliminary audit findings, JSU employees fabricated time and effort reports and provided them to the auditors, and in some instances presented inadequate and/or no supporting documentation.
As part of the settlement, JSU has also agreed to take specific steps to prevent these events from reoccurring by instituting a compliance program, which includes a comprehensive training program on time and effort reporting and other aspects of federal grants management, for a five-year period beginning in February.
“Recipients of federally-funded grants must adhere to the regulations applicable to those grants and accurately report the required information. This settlement sends a strong signal to grant recipients that failure to follow the applicable requirements may lead to significant financial consequences,” stated Gregory K. Davis, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Allison Lerner, Inspector General at the National Science Foundation said, “Each year the National Science Foundation awards millions of dollars in grants to institutions to promote promising scientific research. Fabricating information to improperly obtain and spend scarce research dollars will not be tolerated. I commend the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its effort in this settlement, which will require the return of $1.17 million.”
This case was the result of an investigation by NSF-OIG. Assistant United States Attorney Kristi H. Johnson and ACE Auditor Kim Mitchell handled the matter for the United States.
The claims settled by this agreement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
17 comments:
There are too many incompetent folks running the show!
" Fabricating information to improperly obtain and spend" federal funds.
Sounds like "Fraud" or " False Pretense" to me. No individuals are being held accountable for over a million dollars? WTF!
Good grief! Will it ever end? probably not.....
Gross incompetence. And this is only the stuff we hear about. There's probably much worse undisclosed.
This type of waste is how you get 20 trillion in debt folks...
Same ole show...Administrators who hire functionaries for every reason but competence then take for granted that someone is minding the store. This is the same bunch with the same mindset that run the city of Jackson. Their main concern is high compensation and all the trappings of financial success, but never scrutiny and accountability regarding spending. More Republican leadership is needed to count the money!
A once-proud institution has now become an expensive joke due to incompetent, and likely crooked, leadership.
Time to drain the JSU swamp or shut it down.
33 million dollars missing for JSU reserve fund.
1 million Federal dollars misused than covered up with fake paper work.
Why is this not fraud? Why is the federal govt. scared to hold black university accountable?
Make America Great Again!
Why stop? All you have to do is give the money back - if they catch you.
People should be going to jail for this.
This university is a prime example of what's wrong with our society
"Fabrication" is not incompetence. It is planned theft.
Another HBCU gets a pass and slap on the wrist.
they will get a federal grant to repay the $$$$.
The world of higher education is a cesspool of lax accounting and waste. JSU Administrators almost always receive their "training" at larger universities where money is almost unlimited and they bring this background to a school like JSU where money is tight. All public HBCU's are dependent on state and federal funding but these administrators conduct business as if they were presiding over slush funds at Texas A&M or Columbia. More emphasis is paid to obtaining the funding rather than watching the spending. The IHL should have stepped in long ago, but Mississippi IHL concern is maintaining a status quo arrangement, so as long as JSU administrators keep JSU "in it's place" they don't mind if they feather their own nests. After a few years of getting fat the IHL blows the whistle, the president and his/her cronies go back home with their loot, the IHL hires some new bums from out of state and the whole cycle starts over again.
WoW 9:01! That is frightening. But probably damned insightful and the exact truth.
10:27 is dead right....why stop cheating if all the institution has to do is seek money from the state to pay it back? Where did the money actually go? To people...and they are walking around free as a bird...with free money....from us. Its not right.
Sounds like some of the folks that left the City are working for JSU. I also believe some of the folks that left JSU are working for the City. The Amos and Andy show is still here. Duh! never steal government funds. The risk for an audit never goes away. Duhhh, what happen to the money Amos? Duhhh, I don't know Andy, I thought you knew...
One of the leaving-office settlements by this US Attorney. Wonder if this settlement has anything to do with the Obama Administration appointee getting this done for this HBCU before there is a new US Attorney for the Southern District installed? Certainly can't be any relationship, can there?
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