By Dave Lucas
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Albany, NY – Federal investigators are looking into how the State University of New York Research Foundation spent tens of millions of dollars in government grants for health research projects. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
The Times-Union of Albany and the Buffalo News report that federal investigators want to know whether federal funds sent to SUNY and designated for one research project were sometimes spent on other projects.
Authorities say the months-old probe could have serious ramifications for SUNY, which receives more than $500 million annually to fund research projects. Subpoenas were issued September first, one to the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, one to SUNY, for several years' worth of documentation concerning health-related grants.
SUNY and the Research Foundation have been ordered to turn over records on how federal money was spent on research projects statewide. The Buffalo News reports that it obtained a copy of a 2008 audit report that found "inconsistencies" in how federal grant money was spent on computer services at the Research Institute on Addictions in 2002-04. That report raised questions about the activities of data input workers at the Institute.
Cathy Kaszluga is the Vice President for Corporate Communications for the Albany-based Research Foundation. She says controls are in place to make sure grants are spent legally. She says officials are cooperating with the probe. Documentation is to be turned in to government investigators by September 30th.